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NATO Secretary General Engages Industry on Critical Undersea Infrastructure

(Source: NATO; issued May 05, 2023)
A German navy frigate patrols near a North Sea oil rig as a P-3C maritime patrol aircraft flies in the distance. The North Stream pipeline attack last year, and recent Russian naval activity, have pointed out the vulnerability of NATO infrastructure. (NATO photo)

BRUSSELS --- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with industry leaders in energy and communications infrastructure on Thursday (4 May 2023) to discuss NATO’s role in contributing to the security of critical undersea infrastructure and cooperation with industry.

The Secretary General opened a roundtable discussion at NATO Headquarters between industry leaders and civilian and military experts across NATO. The talks focused on better understanding threats to critical undersea infrastructure and sharing best practices on cooperation and coordination.

"For NATO, protecting critical undersea infrastructure is essential to our security and defence because it is key to protecting the security and prosperity of our societies," said the Secretary General. "Undersea cables carry an estimated 10 trillion dollars in transfers every day, two thirds of the world’s oil and gas is either extracted at sea or transported by sea, and around 95 % of global data flows are transmitted through undersea cables," he added.

The Secretary General highlighted the importance of working with industry who build, operate and maintain this infrastructure in order to better enhance its security.

NATO has been working on the protection of critical infrastructure for years. Following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline last September, Allies have stepped up their military presence in the region.

NATO has also recently created an undersea infrastructure coordination cell to map vulnerabilities, and coordinate efforts between NATO Allies, partners, and the private sector. A new NATO-EU taskforce on resilience and critical infrastructure protection has also been established.

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NATO Says Moscow May Sabotage Undersea Cables As Part of War on Ukraine (excerpt)

BRUSSELS --- Russia may sabotage undersea cables to punish Western nations for supporting Ukraine, NATO's intelligence chief warned on Wednesday, as the alliance boosts efforts to protect undersea infrastructure following the Nord Stream attacks.

"There are heightened concerns that Russia may target undersea cables and other critical infrastructure in an effort to disrupt Western life, to gain leverage against those nations that are providing security to Ukraine," David Cattler told reporters.
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"The Russians are more active than we have seen them in years in this domain," he said, adding they were patrolling more throughout the Atlantic than in recent years and had also stepped up activities in the North and Baltic seas.

Threats to undersea cables and pipelines have become a focus of public attention since, in September 2022, as-yet unexplained explosions crippled the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, built to ship gas
from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea. (end of excerpt)


(Click here for the full story, on the Reuters website.)

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