The ship was heading to the Estonian port of Sillamäe and was sailing through Russian waters. After the detention, it was able to continue its journey. The Russian action demonstrates how shipping in the Baltic Sea is increasingly confronted with the consequences of the war.
Maritime
This development is linked to Ukraine’s growing attacks on Russian ships and ports in the Black Sea. As a result, Moscow has shifted export freight transport to the Baltic Sea. Currently, long queues of ships are forming in the Gulf of Finland en route to Russian ports.
At the same time, maritime safety is gaining greater prominence in European defense plans. Maritime and seabed defense is among the areas where EU countries want to develop new military capabilities. Protection of other critical infrastructure (read: cables and pipelines on the seabed) is also getting more attention.
Promotion
More Together
European countries are also discussing how to jointly respond to hybrid attacks and other security incidents that are not directly considered armed attacks. Against this backdrop, the EU countries are taking new steps toward the joint development and production of military equipment. They have approved five major joint defense projects.
The projects are intended for military systems that are too large or complex to be handled by individual countries alone. On average, eighteen EU countries participate in each project. Funding for this cooperation is available within the European defense industry program, with a budget of 1.5 billion euros.
European
Meanwhile, there is still division over the future conditions for European defense spending. Twelve EU countries want to keep defense programs open to military allies outside the EU, such as the United Kingdom or Canada. France is advocating for stricter European preference rules for future EU expenditures.