Stubb, Nordic leaders discuss Baltic Sea fibre optic cable damage

President Alexander Stubb on Sunday met with the Prime Ministers of Sweden, Norway and Denmark in Copenhagen and discussed the Latvia-Sweden fibre optic cable damage.

Stubb together with Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre and Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen participated at a dinner hosted by the Danish PM on his way to Poland and discussed various issues including the situation in the Baltic Sea, the President wrote in a post on his social media platform X late Sunday night.

The President and First Lady Suzanne Innes-Stubb left Helsinki on Sunday for Poland to attend the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in Oświęcim on Monday.

“Thank you (Mette Frederiksen) for the dinner invitation. We stopped in Copenhagen on our way to Poland. Swedish PM and Jonas Gahr Støre were also present at the dinner. We discussed the new undersea cable damage, the situation in the Baltic Sea, defence cooperation and support for Ukraine,” Stubb wrote in his post.

“We have been in close contact with Petteri Orpo, the authorities and our allies concerning today's (Sunday´s) incident in the Baltic Sea. Finland supports Sweden and Latvia in investigating the cable damage,” the President added.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in a separate post on X said that Finland will continue to work with allies and partners in this regard.

“A new undersea cable damage, this time between Sweden and Latvia, highlights the need to increase our ability to protect critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. We will continue to work with our allies and partners,” Orpo wrote in his post.

Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen also said that close coordination at ministerial level continued after the damage.

“Undersea cable between Sweden and Latvia was damaged near Gotland last night. Sweden and Latvia are leading the investigation. We have been in close contact with allies and partners. Close coordination also at ministerial level,” Häkkänen wrote in a post on X.

The underwater fibre optic cable in the Baltic Sea was damaged early on Sunday, the cable's owner SJSC Latvian State Radio and Television Center (LVRTC) said.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority has confiscated a ship suspected of damaging the cable.