Urgent meeting with Tusk's participation. This is a response to the incident in the Baltic Sea

– In cooperation with the Minister of National Defence, we have been continuously monitoring this situation, unfortunately it is not the first such situation that we encountered several dozen hours ago in the Baltic Sea – said the Prime Minister.

According to information provided by Tusk, the incident concerned the vessel's maneuvers near a power cable connecting Poland and Sweden - a key element of critical infrastructure. The Polish Navy responded to the vessel's actions, chasing the vessel. It eventually sailed into one of the Russian ports.

– I am very satisfied that in a very effective and discreet manner, without using unnecessary means, it was possible to discourage the vessel from any kinetic actions that could have caused damage to the power cable – he said.

Foreign flag fleet, Russian capital

The units of the Russian "shadow fleet" do not operate under the Russian flag, but often belong to companies linked to the Kremlin. They are usually specialist technical vessels that can carry out work on the seabed, such as cutting or damaging underwater infrastructure: power cables, optical fibers, or pipelines.

- The threats are not abstract. The units from the so-called 'shadow fleet' come primarily from Russia - even if they sail under other flags," Tusk noted during the extraordinary conference.

The Prime Minister also added that such actions may be a recurring scenario, and Poland must be prepared for any variant – both in terms of maritime defence and the protection of energy infrastructure.

– Not everyone realizes how often elements of critical infrastructure become the target of sabotage or even terrorist activities – emphasized the Prime Minister.

Baltic Sentry – NATO's Allied Response

Poland is not acting alone in the face of threats in the Baltic Sea. Prime Minister Tusk stressed the importance of the Baltic Sentry project – an initiative initiated by Poland, implemented within NATO. The aim of the program is to monitor the activity of suspicious units and to respond quickly to attempts to breach security in the Baltic Sea region.

– Launched on our initiative, it turned out to be necessary – said the Prime Minister about Baltic Sentry.

He also pointed to the growing scale of hybrid threats that Poland and its neighbors must face. Sabotage, migration pressure, cyberattacks, and attempts to disrupt infrastructure are becoming everyday occurrences in the face of the Kremlin's aggressive policy.

– Let’s not kid ourselves, the Baltic Sea is becoming an area of ​​permanent hybrid confrontation – added Donald Tusk.

Damage is already aggression

In his speech, the Prime Minister clearly stated that attempts to destroy energy infrastructure are not only hostile actions, but a form of aggression. Protecting transmission networks and energy installations is not only the task of engineers today, but an element of national security.

– If someone sends units to destroy infrastructure (...) it is simply aggression aimed at very important things – the head of government noted.

This is a clear signal that Poland – with NATO support – intends to react firmly to any attempt to violate maritime security. Growing tensions around infrastructure on the Baltic Seabed, such as the Nord Stream pipelines and transmission cables, pose new challenges for the allies.

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