NATO officers on Tuesday will tackle the necessity to defend undersea infrastructure following current incidents within the Baltic Sea area that led to broken pipelines and communication cables.

The scenario is dire. While many individuals imagine most international communication happens by satellites, greater than 95% of worldwide knowledge and voice transfers are routed by the various fiber optic cables that crisscross the world’s seafloors, based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“We saw the incident last month in the Baltic Sea where a gas pipeline and internet cables were damaged, and that has reminded us of the vulnerability but also the importance of this type of infrastructure,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg informed reporters forward of a Tuesday breakfast assembly on the topic.

While NATO has addressed defending undersea infrastructure up to now, the alliance has elevated patrols within the area following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We’re in the process of establishing a new center at our maritime command in the United Kingdom to better coordinate efforts of allies, to work with partners, to work with the European Union, but also to work with the private sector to better share information and to ramp up what to do to protect the critical undersea infrastructure,” Mr. Stoltenberg stated.

He stated guaranteeing the protection of undersea communication cables and gas pipelines is an space the place NATO and the EU can work carefully collectively.

“Critical infrastructure is important, and it’s an area where we once again see the relevance and importance of cooperation between NATO and the European Union,” Mr. Stoltenberg stated.

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