Poland's Council of Ministers has approved a draft law that will allow the sinking of vessels considered as posing threat to the Baltic Pipe, the Council's Office said on Thursday
WARSAW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th May, 2023) Poland's Council of Ministers has approved a draft law that will allow the sinking of vessels considered as posing threat to the Baltic Pipe, the Council's Office said on Thursday.
The law is designed to expand possibilities of effective response to modern terrorist threats. According to the draft, in the event of a terrorist threat, the defense minister will be able to decide on sinking a hostile vessel or floating object. This decision is meant only for extraordinary situations when no other means of reaction are available, the document said.
"This is about enabling Polish armed forces to react to threats related to attacks on energy infrastructure located in the sea, the Baltic Pipe pipeline in particular," the Office's statement said.
The statement said that the new regulations assume applying measures of direct coercion so that any threat or harm to third parties is minimized.
In order to become a law, the bill requires approval of the Polish parliament.
The Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, which runs from Norway to Poland through Denmark, was opened in September.
In September 2022, the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas from Russia to Germany, were hit by explosions in the Baltic Sea.
Russia considered the explosions an act of international terrorism. In early March, German magazine Der Spiegel disclosed details regarding the yacht allegedly linked to the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines. A Bavaria Cruiser 50 sailing yacht named Andromeda was rented by unknown people, with the e-mail used to rent it hinting at connections to Ukraine, the report said.
