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The severing of an undersea communications cable between Germany and Finland is likely to have been an act of sabotage, Germany’s defence minister has said.
Boris Pistorius said it was unclear who was responsible for what he described as a “hybrid” warfare tactic.
But he added: “No one believes that these cables were cut accidentally . . . Therefore we have to state, without knowing specifically who it came from, that it is a ‘hybrid’ action. And we also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it is sabotage.”
Cinia, the Finnish state operator of the 1,200km C-Lion1 fibre optic cable between Helsinki in Finland and Rostock in Germany, said it had been cut early on Monday morning in the Baltic Sea close to Sweden by what was almost certainly an “external force”.
Foreign ministers Annalena Baerbock of Germany and Elina Valtonen of Finland said on Monday they were “deeply concerned” about the severed undersea cable connecting the two countries in the Baltic Sea.
They added: “The fact that such an incident immediately raises suspicions of intentional damage speaks volumes about the volatility of our times.”
This is a developing story