The New Testament strengthens Estonia’s naval defense, allows intervention against civilian ships and responds to hybrid threats in the Baltic Sea.
The Estonian Parliament on Wednesday approved the bill to strengthen the naval defense of the country. According to him, the Estonia army will be able to use the force against any ship that attacks important naval objects or infrastructure. According to the AFP report, TASR reports this.
This is a reaction to last year’s incident, when Estlink 2 was damaged by Estonia and Estonia and the destruction of several telecommunications cables at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Investigators work with the suspicion that the damage was caused by an anchor of an Eagle S oil tanker, which he pulled tens of kilometers by the bottom. It is part of the so -called. Russian shadow fleet and Moscow often uses these ships in poor technical condition to circumvent sanctions imposed on Ukraine invasion, for example in oil export.
“Every law has its meaning. In this case, the reason is our eastern neighbor, which poses a real danger to us,” said the National Security Committee on Wednesday in Parliament, referring to Russia. The proposal must still be signed by the President and then published in the Collection of Laws to enter into force. It was approved by 62 out of the 70 deputies present.
The explanatory memorandum to the bill states that the army could have used strength so far, especially to protect the Estonian borders, to reflect the attacks on the Estonian territory and the intervention in the event of a threat to the life of civilians. According to the report, the government has therefore initiated a bill to strengthen the maritime security and allow defensive forces to intervene even if the danger is a civilian ship.
Tensions in the Baltic Sea have been increasing from the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Experts and politicians say that recent incidents on important infrastructure are part of a hybrid war between Russia and Western countries.
