Foreign minister Elina Valtonen (kok) commented on the breaking of the submarine cable between Finland and Germany after the EU foreign ministers’ meeting held in Brussels.
According to the Foreign Minister, possible hybrid measures are taken “very seriously”.
According to Valtonen, there is currently no verified information that there is a government actor behind the submarine cable crime.
A fault in the C-Lion1 submarine cable built by Cinia Oy running between Helsinki and Rostock, Germany was discovered on Monday after four in the morning.
According to Cinia, there is no information about sabotage, but a deliberate cutting of the cable cannot be ruled out. According to the company, outages like this do not happen in the water without an external force.
According to Valtonen, if it is a hybrid operation, i.e. sabotage of a foreign state, then the matter will be made public, as well as who is behind the actions.
According to Valtonen, NATO’s article five can also be used if necessary.
“If there is a state action behind it, it will be taken as an attack on a democratically free society,” Valtonen said.
He said that in Brussels he also discussed the submarine cable crime with his colleague, the German foreign minister Annalena Baerbockin with.
“The German colleague considered this very serious and we will continue the dialogue on this,” Valtonen said.
China’s actions
Foreign Minister Valtonen said in Brussels that trade with China cannot continue as normal if China aids Russia’s war of aggression.
China helps Russia evade sanctions. In addition, there is evidence that China supplies Russia with dual-use products that can be directly used in a military attack against Ukraine.
Kauppalehti reported on Friday that the intelligence collected by the EU Intelligence and Situation Center (EU-INTCEN) reveals that there is a factory in China that builds long-range military drones, which the EU suspects will end up being used by Russia on the Ukrainian front. The news agency Reuters already reported on the matter in September.
Valtonen does not confirm what kind of intelligence information the EU has at its disposal.
According to Valtonen, supplying material suitable for the front would cross a red line, which should lead to countermeasures.
However, the problem with possible countermeasures is that the EU countries are not united in their China line.
“We live in this time and follow what happens – together or separately”.
According to Valtonen, the situation is complicated by the fact that China is an important trade partner for the EU.
“Of course it affects”.
Regarding possible trade sanctions, Valtonen emphasized that the EU must act united, because there are no national tools against China.
Concrete measures could possibly be a review of the current “very permissive trade policy”. In addition, customs duties could be increased on some products.
On Monday, there were no motions on sanctions against China in Brussels.
Information to be verified
EU diplomats already said that the information about the military drones that China may supply to Russia must first be verified before countermeasures such as sanctions can be taken.
On Monday, many EU foreign ministers were also on the same lines, and they emphasized a careful investigation of the matter.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied the claims of supplying drones to Russia.
As a result of Russia’s armed support, the EU has already imposed sanctions on Iran and Belarus, countermeasures against North Korea are also being prepared.
On Monday, EU foreign ministers decided to extend missile and drone sanctions against Iran.