Nine Baltic states to jointly purchase naval mines

Nine Baltic states will jointly purchase naval mines to protect their territorial waters.

Reuters reported on this.

Germany and eight other countries on the Baltic Sea aim to jointly procure naval mines, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said.

As Russia is taking an increasingly assertive stance in the Baltic Sea region.

“Just recently we have seen how Russia tries to extend Russian territorial waters outside Kaliningrad. We are all unmistakably clear that we will not allow such advances,” Pistorius said.

As a result of Russia’s actions, nine Baltic states, namely Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden, will jointly purchase naval mines.

Pistorius was referring to an incident in May when Estonia blamed Russian border guards for removing navigation buoys from the Estonian side of the Narva River separating the two countries.

The Estonian Police and Border Guard Board details that the Russian Border Guard removed twenty-four floating signs around three in the morning on Thursday, May 23.

“To that end, we need the necessary capabilities for deterrence and defence, one of them being naval mines,” the German Defense Minister added.

Russia has significant military capabilities at St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad, and NATO sees shipping lanes as well as undersea cables at risk in case of a conflict.

Joint procurement of naval mines from a single manufacturer will reduce procurement costs and improve repair, logistics and maintenance capabilities.

Militarnyi previously reported that in 2021, the Estonian Navy had already replenished its stockpile of naval mines.

Naval mines called PM16 (Blocker) manufactured by the Finnish company Forcit Defense were purchased.