Measures to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea Region

Priority question for written answer P-002746/2024
to the Commission
Rule 144
Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (S&D)

Attacks have been launched on infrastructure in the Baltic Sea since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago, and there has been a recent upswing in the number of attacks. The destruction of critical infrastructure clearly forms part of the hybrid warfare being waged by hostile states and poses a serious threat not only to the security of the countries of the Baltic Sea Region, but also to the security of Europe as a whole.

The Baltic Sea region is extremely vulnerable and still unprotected. Cables and pipelines on the Baltic seabed are extremely vulnerable and require a high level of protection.

Although the Commission has adopted the Recommendation on the security and resilience of submarine cable infrastructures, this initiative will only be finalised by 2035, which is far too late given the high risk of hybrid attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region, such as the Klaipėda LNG terminal.

Could the Commission answer the following questions:

• 1.Does the Commission intend to respond to the recent attacks and damage to infrastructure in the Baltic Sea?
• 2.Does the Commission see that there is no longer any room for delay and that urgent measures are needed to protect the Baltic Sea region's submarine and land-based critical infrastructure assets?
• 3.Does the Commission intend to put forward proposals to improve the EU's readiness to respond to and prevent attacks on critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea region?

Submitted: 4.12.2024