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On 16 May in Estonia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, is participating in the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS). Together with the Ministers of nine other countries of the region, Budrys discussed sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet and signed a joint memorandum to strengthen the resilience of critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea at the governmental level.

The discussion focused on an incident in Estonia's exclusive economic zone a few days ago, when the sanctioned shadow tanker, named 'The Jaguar', refused to comply with Estonia's legitimate demands, and a Russian military jet violated the Estonian airspace.

“Russia is weaponising its shadow fleet against us. The incident involving the sanctioned tanker  'The Jaguar', when Russia used its air force to defend it, has demonstrated this very clearly," noted Budrys.

According to the Minister, the Baltic Sea states have a rather good understanding of how the shadow fleet works and while sanctions are being tightened, this response is no longer sufficient. It is necessary to adopt a common code of practice, which would provide for much more serious countermeasures.

According to the head of Lithuania's diplomacy, it is necessary to continue tightening the sanctions on the rest of the vessels of the shadow fleet, as currently individual vessels are targeted differently by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union. According to the Minister, this is also demonstrated by the case of “The Jaguar”, which was sanctioned only by the United Kingdom. It is therefore necessary that such vessels are sanctioned by all jurisdictions jointly.

Following Lithuania's proposal,  EU's 17th sanctions package applied restrictions on another 200 vessels of the Russian shadow fleet.

Another important step, according to Budrys, is an increase of NATO's military presence in the Baltic Sea, the extension of the mandate of the Alliance's Baltic Sentry mission, and the revision of national response rules, with inclusion of the navy and applicable in peacetime as well. Currently, in many countries, these functions are assigned to civilian authorities – border and coast guard services, which are within the competence of the Ministries of the Interior.

“The aggressor must understand that such targeted hostile activities cannot go unpunished. A ship that has sailed to Russia must understand that it will not be allowed to return,” said the Minister.

In a memorandum signed by the CBSS Foreign Ministers, ten governments of the region agree on cooperation and focused actions to enhance the protection and resilience of the undersea critical infrastructure.

The Memorandum also includes provisions on the protection of information, possible common sources of funding, and coordination of actions. The document testifies to a strong political will to act together to ensure energy, economic, and digital security across the region.

This agreement will complement and reinforce existing initiatives, including the Vilnius Declaration that was agreed to by Energy Ministers and signed in 2024, the Joint Declaration on cooperation to secure critical subsea infrastructure in the North Sea, the bilateral agreement on the protection and repair of underwater energy infrastructure between Finland and Estonia, and the European Commission's Action Plan on Cable Security.

Photos: The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs