His remarks came after a sanctioned Russian “shadow-fleet” vessel was spotted carrying out suspicious maneuvers above an undersea power cable linking Poland and Sweden earlier this week.
Click on the player icon above for an audio report by Marcin Matuszewski.
Addressing senior naval commanders at the Maritime Operations Centre in the Baltic port of Gdynia, Tusk said Polish forces had “very effectively and discreetly” deterred the ship from "any kinetic action" that might have damaged the cable owned by grid operator Polskie Sieci Energetyczne.
“We are still checking whether any explosive charges were laid, but so far there are no negative signals,” he added.
The incident occurred when the vessel, sailing from Tallinn, executed abrupt turns over the subsea link on Tuesday before steering for a Russian port after the Polish navy intervened, Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said.
'Zone of permanent hybrid confrontation'
Tusk warned that incidents involving "Russian saboteurs" may occur "ever more intensively in the future,” noting that Poland is investing heavily in offshore wind farms and gas pipelines that could become targets.
He cited NATO’s new Baltic Sentry mission, which patrols critical infrastructure in the sea, as “something that has become essential."
"The Baltic Sea—much like Poland's eastern border today—may become a zone of permanent hybrid confrontation," Tusk said.
"This is a direct act of aggression targeting infrastructure vital to our security—not just energy security," he added.
'Most dangerous sea in the world': Polish FM
Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski on Wednesday described the Baltic as “the most dangerous sea in the world” and called for stricter global rules on vessels sailing under flags of convenience or with opaque ownership structures.
Western governments say Russia relies on an ageing “shadow fleet” of tankers registered in third countries to bypass oil-price caps and other sanctions.
The European Union and the United Kingdom on Tuesday blacklisted additional vessels in their latest sanctions package.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP, IAR