Europe on alert: Russian shadow fleet threatens critical infrastructure

Virkkunen and Szłapka participated in a debate at the European Parliament in Strasbourg focused on "sabotage by the Russian shadow fleet, damaging critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea."

The nearly 20-year-old tanker, Eagle S, sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands, is suspected of damaging underwater cables in the Gulf of Finland, specifically the EstLink 2 power cable and several telecommunications cables. Finnish authorities have banned this vessel from sailing due to technical deficiencies discovered during inspection.

Virkkunen and Szłapka emphasized that due to the so-called Russian shadow fleet, in December 2024, the EU added 52 ships to the list of vessels banned from accessing EU ports and receiving a wide range of maritime transport services. These are often aging, uninsured vessels that Russia uses to transport oil subject to a price cap imposed by the West. A total of 71 ships belonging to the shadow fleet have already been sanctioned.

"While all decisions regarding further measures are to be made unanimously by EU member states, we will continue to explore ways to increase pressure on Russia and its shadow fleet," said Szłapka. He added that the Russian shadow fleet not only "drives Russia's war machine used against Ukraine" by transporting oil subject to sanctions but also "poses an environmental threat in the Baltic, as this fleet is in poor technical condition."

Meanwhile, Virkkunen argued that "we must prepare for the worst-case scenario and take a whole-of-government approach to threat actors, who are prepared to use an array of tools while trying to destabilise democratic societies."

The Vice President of the EC called on member states to implement two "sister" directives aimed at helping countries enhance the resilience of critical infrastructure against sabotage actions.

The directives regarding the resilience of critical entities (CER) and cybersecurity (NIS2) went into effect in October 2024. According to the NIS2 directive, member states are required to develop and implement protection strategies for 18 sectors considered critical. However, most countries failed to fulfill this obligation on time. As a result, the European Commission initiated infringement proceedings against 23 member states, including Poland.

Virkkunen added that the EU lacks a common "governance of cable technologies and cable-laying services, to ensure rapid and secure repair and maintenance of cables." "The Commission and NATO outlined concrete and coordinated action to address the challenges in cable resilience," she said.