Baltic Sea Cable Cuts Can’t Be Accident, EU Tech Chief Says

By Andrea Palasciano and Oliver Crook

Jan 14, 2025 (Bloomberg) –The European Union’s new digital chief, Henna Virkkunen, suggested the repeated damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea couldn’t be fully accidental, as leaders from the region prepare to gather for a NATO summit devoted to the topic.

“It can’t really be by accident if these are happening many times a year,” Virkkunen, the European Commission’s executive vice president for technological sovereignty, security and democracy, told Bloomberg TV in an interview taped on Monday.

There have been three instances of suspected sabotage of underwater power lines, data cables and a gas pipeline over the past 15 months in the Baltic Sea, with ship anchors tearing the infrastructure from the seabed. 

On Tuesday, officials from the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization gathered for a meeting with leaders from countries surrounding…