Germany suspects sabotage over severed undersea cables in Baltic

The two countries say they are "deeply concerned" as they raise the possibility of sabotage.

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A 1,170km (730-mile) telecommunications cable between Finland and Germany was severed in the early hours of Monday, while a 218km internet link between Lithuania and Sweden's Gotland Island stopped working on Sunday.

The incidents came at a time of heightened tension with Russia and Pistorius said "nobody believes that these cables were cut accidentally".

The Swedish and Lithuanian defence ministers said they were "deeply concerned" that the cable connecting their two countries had been cut.

"Situations like these must be assessed with the growing threat posed by Russia in our neighbourhood as a backdrop," ministers Pal Jonson and Laurynas Kasciunas said in a statement, with a call for sanctions to be used in response to acts of sabotage.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9dl4vxw501o

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