Joint Expeditionary Force ready to protect Baltic Sea's critical infrastructure - Estonian PM Kallas
TALLINN. Oct 13 (Interfax) - The leaders of the ten-nation Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), who met in Visby, Sweden, on Friday, have agreed on measures to protect critical maritime infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
"The JEF's members attach great importance to protecting critical maritime infrastructure. At the meeting they reaffirmed their readiness to provide assistance with enhancing the security of maritime infrastructure. The defense ministers are discussing specific measures in more detail," Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was quoted by her government's press service as saying.
"Finnish and Estonian scientific research institutions are doing all they can to find out the causes of the accident as soon as possible," Kallas said.
The attendees expressed support for Estonia and Finland in the aftermath of damage caused to the Balticconnector natural gas pipeline and telecommunications cable.
European countries should increase their defensive capabilities and make real investments to that end, Kallas said. "The JEF nations can lead by example. Next year Estonia will increase its defense spending to 3.2% of GDP, and I urge all allies to invest more in defense. This is not easy, but it is necessary," Kallas said.
The leaders also condemned the Hamas attack on Israel and stressed the latter's right to defend itself and its people in accordance with international law, a joint statement adopted at the meeting said.
The attendees also discussed possible options for JEF military operations to enable a faster response to military threats and to deter hostile acts, including those on critical infrastructure.
The JEF is a format for defense cooperation led by the United Kingdom, which also includes Estonia, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
The 77-kilometer undersea pipeline between Paldiski, Estonia, and Incoo, Finland, was damaged and turned off on October 8. Finland said the accident took place in its economic zone (at around 60 meters deep, the trunk's diameter is 50 centimeters). The cause of the damage is currently unknown.