Addressing the Helsinki Security Forum on Friday, 30 September 2022, the NATO Deputy Secretary Mircea Geoană said that the damage to two pipelines in the Baltic Sea this week are of “deep concern” and noted that all “currently available information indicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage”. He said that NATO supports the investigations underway to determine the origin of the damage; and that “allies have been exchanging information including with Finland and Sweden in this sense”.
Speaking about the decision of Finland and Sweden to apply for NATO membership, Mr. Geoană said that “having Allies on all sides of the Baltic Sea will change the strategic environment in the region and make the defence of the Baltic countries easier” and of the whole North “more coherent”. “Finland and Sweden will make our Alliance stronger, more resilient, and more integrated in the world around us”, he stressed. Mr. Geoană delivered a virtual speech to the first session of this year’s Helsinki Security Forum on the theme “Northern European Security Redone”.