The Baltic Sea has risen to the center of global politics after acts of sabotage targeted its underwater infrastructure. As a result, Finnish authorities stopped an oil tanker and conducted an inspection, which revealed that the vessel required repairs before it could continue its journey.
The perpetrator of the sabotage is officially unknown, but there is near-unanimous consensus that Russia and Vladimir Putin are behind it. In other words, this is part of Putin's hybrid warfare against Western nations.
It was therefore intriguing when Finnish international politics researcher Risto E. J. Penttilä raised the idea that Finland and Estonia could divide the international waters of the Baltic Sea between themselves. In other words, these countries would agree on a border line such that their boundaries would meet directly, leaving no international waters in between.
The aim would not be to hinder maritime traffic to Russia’s ports at the far end of the Gulf of Finland, but rather to significantly improve the ability to monitor vessels in what would become national waters instead of international waters. This would make it easier to repeatedly catch ships involved in potential sabotage.
It remains to be seen whether Penttilä's proposal will lead to changes, as Russia would almost certainly oppose it. In doing so, Russia would inadvertently confirm its involvement in the sabotage and its intention to continue such actions in the future.
However, Russia is unlikely to refrain from such activities, no matter how much embarrassment they cause. This is because the country lacks a free press and freedom of speech, meaning that its citizens would have no understanding of the fact that Putin’s regime is once again making their nation a subject of ridicule.
Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Finland Detains Russia-Linked Ship Suspected of Cable Damage
Nordic Nations Unite Against the Growing Threat of Cross-Border Organized Crime
Military confrontation between China and USA highly probable in near future
One should be careful not to create more problems when one is trying to solve older problems.
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