Nations on the Baltic Sea, along with NATO, have stepped up security after a third incident of suspected sabotage to underwater infrastructure in a month.

NATO said on Friday it would boost its presence in the Baltic Sea after the suspected sabotage this week of an undersea power cable and four internet lines, while alliance member Estonia launched a naval operation to guard a parallel electricity link.

While the risk of damage, deliberate or accidental, to energy and communications infrastructure under the Baltic Sea cannot be entirely eliminated, naval cooperation among the democratic states that surround the sea can help to enhance deterrence against attacks,

General Mark Rutte says the military alliance will step up patrols in the Baltic Sea area as Finnish investigators work to establish whether a ship linked to Russia sabotaged undersea cables there this week.

The decision follows a spate of suspected sabotage incidents on underwater cables.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb will host a summit in Helsinki of the NATO countries that border the Baltic Sea together with Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal next Tuesday. The summit, which will take place at the Presidential Palace,

NATO is deploying approximately 10 ships to protect underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The first of these ships is expected to arrive by the end of the week, and the operation will continue until April.

In addition, a U.K.-led 10-member consortium of northern European nations called the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) has reactivated an AI-based system to track suspicious ships in these waters. The actions are a response to the suspected deliberate severing on Christmas Day of the Estlink 2 undersea power cable and four undersea communications cables between Finland and Estonia,

Finland will host a summit for NATO member states with access to the Baltic Sea on Jan. 14 to address regional security threats, including the suspected Russian sabotage, the Finnish president's office announced on Jan.