Nord Stream leaks highlight difficulty of protecting critical infrastructure

Suspicions of deliberate sabotage after multiple leaks were observed in underwater pipelines in the Baltic Sea have raised concerns over the vulnerability of critical infrastructure across the European Union.

Four leaks have now been detected in Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 which both link Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. While investigations are under way, the governments of Denmark and Sweden said they believe the leaks are the result of "deliberate actions".

The North Atlantic Council — NATO's principal political decision-making body — also said in a statement on Thursday that "all currently available information indicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage."

NATO allies are meanwhile "coordinating closely" on the next step and the protection of critical infrastructure, Denmark said, while Norway has dispatched navy vessels to patrol the area. Its state-oil company, Equinor, also announced that it has raised the level of preparedness on all of its facilities.

Julian Pawlak, a research fellow at the German Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies, has backed the deployment of the military to protect underwater infrastructure. 

"They can show presence, they can show that they are active next to their critical infrastructure, next to important sea lanes, also, as well as we have seen now, for instance, by the Norwegian authorities," he told Euronews, arguing that military vessels would act as "a kind of deterrent to foreign actors."

Yet he also stressed that this is not a viable measure: "It's basically difficult to monitor all of your sea cables or all of your pipelines. I mean, neither Europe nor NATO is able to put a navy vessel every ten sea miles to look at what is happening on the sea or below the surface or on the seabed."

Europe is highly dependent when it comes to energy and imported 58% of its energy needs in 2020.