The protection of submarine pipelines and cables by NATO was requested by Soltz and Stere

NATO should now protect undersea gas pipelines and internet lines, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gaard Stere agreed earlier this evening and called for the creation of a special coordination office. The Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, has already welcomed the initiative of the two member states.

“Conductors, telephone lines and internet connections are vital to our states and must be specially secured. The attacks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines have shown the great dangers that exist,” Chancellor Olaf Solz said after a meeting with the Norwegian prime minister, with whom he later participated in a panel at the Berlin Security Conference. The goal now, Mr. Soltz added, must be the effective coordination of police and military forces and the involvement of actors such as the European Union and private companies.

“It is about the security of the energy systems. I don’t want to draw a dividing line between what’s above the water and what’s below it. At stake are natural gas pipelines, telecommunications infrastructure, fiber optic infrastructure, and we need a concerted joint effort in order to secure the security of these infrastructures,” agreed Jonas Gar Stere.

On NATO’s side, Jens Stoltenberg, who is participating in the same Conference, said that “after the recent sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, we have intensified our efforts and it is now critical to put more effort into securing maritime infrastructure against further acts of destruction”.

Referring to the war in Ukraine, both the Chancellor of Germany and the Prime Minister of Norway assured that they would continue to support the Ukrainian defense, while Mr. Gar Stere also announced that his country would give Ukraine and other countries suffering from the war part of the high profits from the sale of natural gas. At the same time, the purchase of natural gas on behalf of Kyiv is being planned ahead of winter. Norway, one of the world’s biggest natural gas exporters, stands to gain a lot from rising prices due to the war.

Olaf Solz repeatedly thanked his interlocutor for the 10% increase in the amount of natural gas delivered by Norway to Germany. Germany “learned its lesson from the Russian attack on Ukraine, to protect itself and its partners”, he assured and highlighted the central task of the German armed forces to defend freedom in Europe. “All other tasks are subordinate to this central task,” Mr. Scholz noted, to emphasize: “No aggressor should doubt that we are determined to defend every ally and every inch of Alliance territory with all our available forces ».

Speaking from the floor of the Security Conference, Olaf Solz later expressed optimism about the development of the war in Ukraine “thanks to international support” and spoke of a “successful defense” by the Ukrainian armed forces. The international community is succeeding in curbing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s neo-imperialism, he continued. “We are doing great. Russia should understand that the West will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary,” he stressed and added that “anyone, like (Vladimir) Putin, who wants to destroy the rules-based international order should count on resistance of Germany”.

In the same appearance, Mr. Gar Stere referred to the issue of Sweden and Finland joining NATO, expressing the hope that the issue will be resolved as soon as possible. Currently pending ratification of accession by Turkey and Hungary. “I hope everything will fall into place and NATO will be an even stronger alliance,” he said.

RES-EMP

Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.