Ten NATO countries will strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure in the Baltic after the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines and Balticconector.
The Joint Expeditionary Force, which was set up under the leadership of the United Kingdom with Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden at the 2014 NATO summit, is to strengthen the protection of critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. This is the answer to the sabotage of the 2022 Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines and the damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which could also have been an act of sabotage.
Members of the group are expected to deploy additional sea and air support to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, with an emphasis on undersea infrastructure, such as cables and gas pipelines, which have seen strange incidents since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is the first time in history whenJEF is activated. Work is due to start in December. A group of about 20 ships will patrol the Baltic and part of the Atlantic.
Poland is not a member of the JEF due to the lack of an appropriate fleet, but it has important critical infrastructure in the Baltic that serves it and its neighbors, including Ukraine, which receives with its help goods essential to repel the invasion of Russia. Poland has a gas and oil port, as well as power cables that connect it with its Baltic neighbors.
AFP / Wojciech Jakóbik