On Thursday, Estonia's government convened an extraordinary meeting to address the disruption of the Estlink-2 power cable, which transmits electricity from Finland. The cable went offline shortly after noon on Wednesday, prompting concerns among officials following previous incidents of sabotage to undersea cables in the region.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal stated that despite the holiday season, efforts were underway to identify the cause of the Estlink-2 disconnection. Collaborative work between Estonia and Finland has been ongoing to resolve the issue, with the government planning an urgent meeting and maintaining close communication with Nordic-Baltic partners.
In November, two data cables linking Finland to Germany and Lithuania to Sweden were deliberately severed, leading to suspicions of sabotage. The German defense minister raised concerns about hybrid warfare threats from Russia in connection to these incidents, although no concrete evidence or attributions were provided.
In a separate incident in September 2022, the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which historically transported natural gas from Russia to Germany, were damaged by underwater explosions. Authorities have classified these events as sabotage and initiated criminal investigations.
Earlier this year, the Estlink-2 cable had experienced downtime due to repairs necessitated by a short circuit, potentially caused by the cable's intricate positioning. Despite the recent disruption, Estonian network operator Elering assured that there was sufficient spare capacity to meet the country's electricity demands.
