The U.K. and Norway have formed a security alliance to counteract threats to their mutual underwater gas pipeline and cable systems.
Britain’s and Norway’s defense ministers announced the agreement on Thursday. It calls for increased cooperation between the two countries in areas such as intelligence sharing, countering mine threats, and detecting submarines from hostile nations.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace of the United Kingdom said on Thursday that Russia has the ability and intent to sabotage critical Western infrastructure, but he did not place blame on Russia for the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year.
At a press conference with his Norwegian counterpart Bjrn Arild Gram, Wallace said, “What we know is the Russians have a work program, they have a specific naval program designed to both look at and potentially sabotage or attack critical national infrastructure belonging to its adversaries.” Gram added that the “sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines last year is a concrete reminder of what is at stake.”
In July, Britain will deploy the RFA Proteus, its first patrol ship, to the North Sea to safeguard wind farms, cables, and gas pipelines in Norwegian and British waters.
