In a press briefing on Friday, President Alexander Stubb announced three concrete measures Finland is taking in response to the recent incident where vital electricity and telecom cables connecting Finland were damaged.
"We will continue to strengthen Nato and EU actions and proceed with the inspections agreed upon at the JEF assembly a couple of weeks ago," Stubb said referring to a meeting of Joint Expeditionary Force leaders in Tallinn, Estonia, earlier this month.
According to Stubb, the second measure involves strengthening Nato's presence in the region.
"We have agreed with Estonia to seek increased Nato presence, particularly around critical infrastructure. This request has already been answered," Stubb said.
On Thursday, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte also announced in a post on social media platform X that he discussed Nato "increasing its presence in the Baltic Sea" with Stubb.
Stubb said the third follow-up measure pertains to finding solutions based on international maritime law. The Finnish president emphasised that Finland is well-prepared to respond to such incidents.
Vessel secured within hours
President Stubb praised Finland's response to the cable damage incident, noting the speed and efficiency of the operation.
"In previous cable damage incidents, it has taken longer to react. This time, we secured the vessel within a few hours," Stubb stated.
He emphasised that the swift response helped prevent further damage and expressed gratitude to the police, border authorities, and everyone involved in the operation.
Stubb said discussions are being held with the crew of the Eagle S tanker, which is suspected of being involved in the cable damage.
"Both the officers and the crew are cooperating well with Finnish authorities."
Too soon to draw conclusions
President Stubb said it is too early to conclude if the cable damage could be attributed to Russian hybrid interference, and added that there hasn't been any diplomatic reaction from Russia yet.
"Our message is quite clear. We've got the situation under control and we have to continue to work together vigilantly to make sure that our critical infrastructure is not damaged by outsiders. It's too soon to draw conclusions yet, why this happened. We know who did it," he said in English.