NATO announces the strengthening of its military presence in the Baltic Sea.. What happened?

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed on Friday that NATO will “strengthen its military presence in the Baltic Sea.”
This move comes after a possible sabotage of electricity cables linking Finland to Estonia this week.

An act of sabotage

Rutte said: “I spoke to (Finnish President) Alexander Stubb about the investigation that Finland is conducting into a possible sabotage of submarine cables.”
He added: I expressed my full solidarity and support to him. “NATO will strengthen its military presence in the Baltic Sea.”
The Finnish authorities had opened an investigation into an oil tanker that sailed from a Russian port, against the backdrop of “sabotage” of an undersea electricity cable linking Finland and Estonia, which was damaged on Wednesday.

Eastlink 2 cable

The Estlink 2 cable, which connects Finland and Estonia, was disconnected from the network on Wednesday, and supplies Estonia with electricity, more than a month after two communications cables were cut on November 17 and 18 in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.
“We have the situation under control, and we must continue to work together carefully to ensure that our vital infrastructure is not damaged by outsiders,” the Finnish president said.
Officials suspect the tanker is part of Russia’s “shadow fleet.”
The shadow fleet is an expression used to refer to ships engaged in operations that constitute a violation of the ban on the transport of Russian crude and its derivatives.

NATO presence in the Baltic Sea

The Eagle S ship is heading to Port Said in Egypt and is currently in the Gulf of Finland, according to Marine Traffic, a website specialized in tracking ship movements.
Estonian Defense Minister Hannu Pefkor confirmed earlier Friday that his country had begun naval patrols to protect the submarine cable that supplies it with electricity from Finland.
In a separate statement, he said Tallinn wanted to send a clear message that it was ready to protect energy communications with Finland by military and non-military means.

NATO support for Estonia and Finland

On Thursday, Rutte pledged NATO support for Estonia and Finland, and condemned attacks on critical infrastructure after speaking to Estonian Prime Minister Kristin Michal.
The European Union vowed to impose more sanctions on Russian ships after this week’s incident.
The European Union countries agreed earlier this month to blacklist about 50 additional oil tankers from the Russian “shadow fleet.”