Finland says ‘state actor’ might be involved in gas pipeline damage
Finland's intelligence services said Thursday that a “state actor” could have perpetrated the damage to a Baltic Sea gas pipeline that happened over the weekend.
"Involvement of a state actor in this job cannot be ruled out," Finnish Security Intelligence Service Director Antti Pelttari said during a press conference, Reuters reported. "Who is behind this is a matter for the preliminary investigation. We do not comment on it in more detail.”
On Tuesday, Finland confirmed that a 77-kilometer-long Balticconnector pipeline that links NATO members Finland and Estonia under the Gulf of Finland suffered a leak after an “unusual” drop in pressure. At the same time, Finnish telecoms operator Elisa reported it had detected a malfunction on an undersea cable it uses to verify communication connections.
Senior Finnish officials said the damage to both the gas pipeline and communication cable was likely to have been caused by “external activity,” raising concerns over the security of Europe’s energy infrastructure as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to wage war on Ukraine, with knock-on effects for the entire Continent.
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Helsinki has since launched an investigation into the leak, in collaboration with Estonian authorities.
On Wednesday, Finnish officials said that the pipeline was likely to have been damaged by a “mechanical force,” not an explosion.
While Finnish officials did not speculate on who might be involved in the leak, Finnish newspaper Iltalehti reported Tuesday that unnamed government sources suspected Russia of being behind the attack.
And Finnish Security Intelligence Service on Thursday said in its national security overview that relations between Finland and Russia “have significantly deteriorated” amid Finland’s accession to NATO and Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, and that Russia is “currently treating Finland as a hostile country.”
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said NATO defense ministers were set to be briefed on the investigation on Thursday. NATO previously promised a “united and determined response” if the damage turns out to be the result of an attack.
Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas also said Thursday she had recently spoken with Finland Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and that the investigation was “ongoing.”
“We're closely coordinating on every level,” Kallas said. “Also discussed enhancing the protection of critical infrastructure.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who on Thursday was in Tel Aviv to speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the United States stands with Finland and Estonia “as they investigate damage to undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea and support their ongoing investigation to determine the cause.”