Announcement of the proposal comes after explosions in Nord Stream pipelines and suspicious drone sightings at Norway´s offshore oil rigs
The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz along with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store announced a plan to protect the maritime infrastructure within NATO on Thursday, December 1. According to a report in Euronews, both leaders discussed their plans during a press conference in Berlin.
“We take the protection of our infrastructure very seriously and that no one can believe that attacks would remain without consequence,” said Scholz. He added, “We are in the process of asking the Secretary General of NATO to set up a coordination body for the protection of maritime infrastructures,” he said, calling these infrastructures the arteries of the modern economy”.
The report states the decision to take newer measures comes after the explosions in the Nord Stream pipelines, which transports gas from Russia to Europe. Aside from this, there have also been reports of suspicious drone sightings around offshore oil rigs in Norway.
Meanwhile, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Chief, welcomed the proposal presented by the two countries, the report stated. In a statement according to the article, Stoltenberg said, “We have stepped up our efforts following the recent sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines, and it is vital to do more to ensure that our offshore infrastructure remains safe from future acts of destruction”.
The explosions in the pipeline took place in September resulting in four major gas leaks in Nord Stream 1 and 2.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check out the EuroNews247 website for all your up-to-date European news stories.
