MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th April, 2023) The nine European countries bordering the North Sea have agreed to cooperate on ensuring the security of offshore energy infrastructure as part of their ambition to turn the region into Europe's "Green Power Plant," they said in a joint declaration following their summit in Belgium.
On Monday, the Belgian city of Ostend hosted the second North Sea Summit, which brought together the leaders of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Commission and the Commissioner for Energy, to discuss renewable energy development in the region.
"We will cooperate to keep physical and cyber security of offshore energy infrastructure on top of the European agenda," the joint declaration read.
The cooperation will include sharing best practices and further developing ties with partners to tackle possible threats and guarantee the safety of the energy systems, according to the document.
"Energy security and resilience can only be delivered through allies acting in partnership - collaborating on approaches, information sharing, and capabilities," the document stressed.
Concerns about the safety of vital infrastructure were sparked by the situation around the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. They were hit by explosions last September and rendered partially dysfunctional, with the incident still under investigation by Denmark, Germany and Sweden, as well as separately by Russia.
Russia considers the explosions at the two pipelines an act of international terrorism. There are no official results of the investigation yet, though US journalist and Pulitzer prize winner Seymour Hersh alleged that the explosions were organized by the United States with the support of Norway. Following Hersh's report, Moscow reiterated its calls for an impartial and thorough investigation. The US has denied its involvement in the incident.
