After the NATO recently announced measures against Russia’s hybrid warfare in the Baltic SeaEstonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur has now instructed his navy to react more decisively to potential threats – if necessary, by force and offensive boarding.
“The naval forces have no difficulty responding in Estonian territorial waters. The problem lies in economic waters. In order to be able to act quickly and appropriately there, we are submitting amendments to the laws to Parliament,” Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told the local press. “If necessary, the navy will have the right to use force in all Estonian waters – both in territorial waters and in the special maritime economic zone – in the event of a threat. To this end, the Ministry of Defence has prepared amendments to the law on the organization of the defence forces, which have been submitted to parliament for approval. This also includes the deployment of armed forces to protect critical infrastructure.”
Pevkur had also recently spoken at a meeting between the Baltic defense ministers and the Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans took a clear stance against Russia.
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According to the proposed amendments, military personnel throughout the Estonian sea area may first contact the master of a suspicious vessel, order a change of course or stop and “offer” the possibility of docking or boarding the vessel. If these requests are not complied with and the use of force is necessary as a last resort, this could be approved by the Minister of Defense after consultation.
Hybrid warfare in the Baltic Sea
The changes to Estonian laws come at a time of growing concern over acts of sabotage in the Baltic Sea, including incidents of the cutting of four submarine telecommunications cables between Estonia and Finland. Authorities in both countries believe that the old oil tanker Eagle S, which was sailing under the Cook Islands flag from St. Petersburg to Port Said in Egypt, was involved.was involved. The Finnish border police landed a team on the ship using an Airbus H-225 helicopter and deployed it and arrested it on suspicion of involvement in sabotage. EU and NATO have suggested that such incidents could be linked to the activities of ships from Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.
In response to several incidents of apparent hybrid warfare and against the backdrop of this threat the NATO operation “Baltic Sentry” began on January 14. (“Guardians of the Baltic”), which aims to protect critical underwater infrastructure. According to the Finnish news agency YLE, NATO countries have deployed ten ships for a 90-day patrol mission, which can be extended if necessary. Polish President Donald Tusk declared that Poland would “without hesitation intercept and detain ships suspected of being involved in such incidents within territorial waters”.
On Wednesday, the German Navy’s Frankenthal-class minehunter “FGS Datteln” (-> current news about the German Armed Forces) and the Dutch Navy’s hydrographic ship “HNLMS Luymesder” entered the Gulf of Finland to protect underwater communications.
