Helsinki, 14 January 2025 (dpa/MIA) - NATO announced a new mission on Tuesday to better protect critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, like energy and communication cables, with significantly more ships, aircraft and drones.

"Today I can announce that NATO is launching Baltic Sentry," said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said at a press conference at the end of a summit of alliance members that surround the Baltic Sea.

"This military activity is part of our ongoing effort to enhance maritime presence and monitoring of key areas for our alliance," Rutte said in Helsinki.

The secretary general also named an initiative to utilise new technologies as part of the efforts. This includes a small fleet of naval drones to ensure improved surveillance and deterrence.

With the gathering in the Finnish capital, the participating NATO countries Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden are reacting to several incidents in which infrastructure in the Baltic Sea was allegedly deliberately damaged.

In the latest incident, the oil tanker Eagle S is suspected of having intentionally damaged a power line and several communication cables by dragging its anchor on the seabed. Finnish authorities have seized the ship.

MIA file photo