Sweden has called for a Chinese ship to come to investigate the severing of communication cables

Sweden has called on the crew of a Chinese ship to come to investigate the breakage of communication cables in the Baltic Sea. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference in Stockholm on Nov. 26.

"The Swedish side has been in contact with the ship and with China, and it has stated its desire for the ship to move towards its waters," the politician said.

Kristersson said the Swedish government is not accusing anyone, but only intends to find out the causes and circumstances of the incident.

A thorough investigation involves cooperating with vessels that are in international waters, which is why Sweden has expressed a desire to "move" the vessel into Swedish waters, the prime minister added.

"We follow the law of the sea very clearly and the Swedish prosecutor is doing the same. We have not yet received a response to this request, but China has generally stated that it is happy to cooperate on such matters," Kristersson concluded, expressing hope that the request will be fulfilled.

Thebreakage of the communication cable between Lithuania and Sweden, laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, became known on November 18. According to preliminary data, the cable was cut, an investigation is underway. Director of Technology of the telecommunications company Telia Lietuva Andrius Šemeškevičius pointed out that the damaged cable is quite old and there have been several accidents with it. According to him, no cases of sabotage have been recorded.

Also on the same day, the C-Lion1 telecommunication cable laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea between Finland and Germany was severed. Cinia, a fiber optic network construction company, informed the media that the cable had been cut.

It was clarified that customers have been informed, repairs have begun and will take up to 15 days. The German and Finnish foreign ministries said in a joint statement that an investigation into the incident was underway.

Swedish Civil Defense Minister Karl-Oskar Bolin said that incidents with severed communication cables between Lithuania and Sweden, as well as Finland and Germany in the Baltic Sea are being investigated by Swedish authorities.