Damage to Baltic Sea underwater infrastructure must be investigated - National Security Council

RIGA - Damage to the Baltic Sea underwater infrastructure should be investigated and, based on the results of the investigations, appropriate measures should be taken to improve its protection, the National Security Council concluded.

Latvian president's spokeswoman Justine Deicmane informed LETA that a meeting of the National Security Council was held at the Riga Castle on Wednesday, chaired by President Edgars Rinkevics.

The meeting discussed the current security situation in the Baltic Sea and broader region, as well as the situation in the Middle East.

The participants listened to updates on national security issues from the national security institutions. The National Security Council noted the importance of critical infrastructure protection and threat prevention.

The National Security Council discussed developments in the Middle East. The council also heard a report on Latvia's ongoing support to Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression and underlined the importance of continuing to provide consistently broad and extensive support to Ukraine's self-defense capabilities in these circumstances.

The president of Latvia will convene the next regular meeting of the National Security Council to assess the progress made in the policy of punishment and in securing the eastern border.

LETA has already reported that Finnish police announced on Tuesday that they had found an anchor that could have come from a Chinese ship suspected of damaging the Finnish-Estonian Balticconnector gas pipeline.

Police on Tuesday released photographs of underwater traces of the six-ton anchor dragging on the seabed and then crashing into the pipeline, damaging the Balticconnector and causing the anchor to break off.

Authorities also confirmed earlier findings that pointed to a possible connection between the Chinese cargo ship Newnew Polar Bear and the damage.

"The Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship, judging by the time frame, appears to have been at the scene," the Finnish authorities said.

At the same time as the Balticconnector gas pipeline, communication cables between Estonia and Finland and Estonia and Sweden were damaged.

When the Balticconnector pipeline was shut down on October 8 following a leak, the Finnish authorities confirmed that an investigation had been launched into the damage, which the Finnish side said was the result of "external" activity.