The EU Commission calls for the intensification of naval operations across the bloc

2023-05-25 09:14:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The EU Commission calls for the intensification of naval operations across the

Together, the 27 EU member states manage the largest naval training area in the world.

The European Commission wants maritime exercises across the EU, involving military and civilian entities, to be intensified as soon as possible, mainly due to increased threats to critical infrastructure in the maritime domain.

In November last year, the Nord Stream gas pipeline was hit by an explosion, and in March, several European governments revealed suspicious acts of espionage by Russian ships in the North Sea.

At the opening of the European Sea Day in Brest, France, the European Commissioner for Oceans, Virginijus Sinkevi?ius, said in an interview that a new action plan is being prepared, within the EU Strategy for the Protection of the Maritime Domain.

"The risks are very real because we have seen what happened to the Nord Stream infrastructure and the investigation is still ongoing, with more and more details," he told Euronews.

"So I think we have to be realistic about the current geopolitical situation we're in now and we have to take all possible measures.

"And for this reason, in our updated EU maritime strategy, we have included a very important part of the protection and monitoring of our key infrastructures, especially knowing that it plays a key role in our energy independence and strategic autonomy ".

The European Maritime Safety Agency, based in Lisbon, is also preparing to coordinate and help member states to increase their vigilance.

A modernized digital platform will be launched in January 2024 under the name Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE).

"We can use CISA as a platform to inform each other, also to use it for early warning and for alerts," Leendert Bal, Head of the Department for Safety and Oversight at the European Maritime Safety Agency told Euronews.

"So it will make a unique link of combination between all European authorities working in maritime surveillance."/ CNA.al