The government of Lithuania agreed on Wednesday to instruct the country’s National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) to co-ordinate the protection of underwater infrastructure. The Justice Ministry and the Prosecutor-General’s Office were tasked with examining whether criminal liability should apply in cases of damage.
“In light of the security situation in the Baltic Sea, where the number of breaches of submarine cables that are part of the underwater infrastructure is on the rise, we must take preventive measures,” Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene declared during the Cabinet meeting.
The decision was that the NCMC must establish a co-operation model and define the division of responsibilities among the authority that is responsible for protecting the infrastructure and those who are assisting in these efforts.
The NCMC must also compile a list of steps which institutions should take to safeguard the cables and to define operational algorithms for their protection.
The centre has been given time until February 14 to inform the authorities as to who will be responsible for the infrastructure security, as well as the government ministries that will be involved in the process.
The ministries will then have until February 28 to draft proposed regulations that would allow the government to put the protection measures into place.
“These deadlines should be seen as ‘preferably as soon as possible,’ as opposed to the date that has been stated,” Sakaliene says. “We all understand the gravity of this situation given the sensitivity thereof and particularly the fact of upcoming synchronisation.”
The Cabinet instructed the Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry to discuss the various proposals with NATO, the European Union and regional partners so as to ensure a co-ordinated approach under the auspices of international law.
The government has tasked the Justice Ministry and Prosecutor-General’s Office with determining possible Criminal Code amendments that would set out legal liability for those cases in which critical infrastructure is damaged. The ministries are required to present their assessment and their specific proposals to the Cabinet by the end of this month.
Source: BNS
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