Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen warns of the growing risk of military conflict in the Baltic Sea. He argues that although conflict is not inevitable, threats to maritime infrastructure and the environment are increasing.

"Had it continued for another 12 minutes, the carnage would have been much worse than the four basic cables that were there," Finnish President Alexander Stubb said.

Planned Russian military reforms that would increase Moscow's troop numbers by 30% are a threat to NATO and should be met with vigilance, the chief of Finland's military intelligence service Pekka Turunen said on Thursday.

Russia's oil shipments via the Baltic Sea fell by roughly 10% in the last four months of 2024, the Finnish Border Guard said, as the impact of EU sanctions against Russian oil and gas exports adopted in June took effect.

Lithuania is to increase its defense spending to between 5 percent and 6 percent of its GDP from 2026, matching Trump's target.

Membership in NATO is the only credible long-term security guarantee Ukraine can receive against future Russian aggression, Finland's top diplomat said on Wednesday. Donald Trump's return to the White House on Jan.

Finland will next week host a summit of NATO countries bordering the Baltic Sea to discuss security in the region, as the alliance boosts its maritime presence following several subsea cable cuts.

Hundreds of Swedish troops have arrived in Latvia to join a Canadian-led multinational brigade along NATO’s eastern flank

In a post on X, Stubb thanked the outgoing US president for his "steadfast support" in Finland's Nato membership process.

In a House of Lords debate, Defence Minister Lord Coaker detailed the UK’s robust response to escalating threats against critical undersea infrastructure, particularly internet and energy cables.

Undersea cables are conductors wrapped in insulating materials and laid on the seabed. Their main functions are telecommunications or power transmission. The core of the undersea cables used for Internet signals is optical fiber,