Germany says damage to communication cables in Baltic Sea a case of 'sabotage'

Germany said on Tuesday it believed that recent damage to communications cables in the Baltic Sea was "sabotage", as Sweden reported damage to a second underwater link.

The severing of cables between Finland and Germany and from Sweden to Lithuania was a "clear sign that something is going on", German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels.

"Nobody believes that these cables were accidentally severed," Pistorius said.

"We have to say, without knowing exactly who it came from, that this is a hybrid action. We also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it was sabotage," he said.

On Monday, Finnish operator Cinia reported that a cable connecting Helsinki and the German port of Rostock had been cut for unknown reasons.

Germany and Finland subsequently said they had launched a probe into the damage, warning of the threat of "hybrid warfare".