The Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, poses the greatest threat to stability and security in Europe since the end of World War II. The scope and scale of Russian hostile activities in Europe, and in particular hybrid campaigns in the Baltic Sea region, have increased significantly.
The Baltic Sea region remains particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of the ongoing invasion and is an area of particular Russian hybrid activity, such as espionage and sabotage of underwater infrastructure, and GPS signal jamming on water and in the air, which hinders the navigation of sea and air vessels.
The increase in the Russian Federation's provocative and hostile activities in the Baltic Sea region also includes aggressive military exercises and incidents. There are also deliberate violations of airspace by Russian aircraft, which are intended to test the defence systems of the countries in the region and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a whole.
The Baltic Sea is an important maritime route, which the Russian Federation uses to circumvent oil sanctions by employing a so-called shadow fleet. The transport of raw materials in old, dilapidated tankers and the growing illegal oil trade pose a serious threat to shipping and the environment and allow the Russian Federation to finance the war.
The Baltic Sea region is a geopolitical powder keg, where the hostile interests of the Russian Federation, seeking to change the current international order, and the West, which supports Ukraine, clash.
Given that the Baltic Sea has become an area of various threats, not only military but also economic and environmental, and the Russian Federation is conducting hybrid operations in this region to test our resilience, responsiveness and effectiveness, the Parliamentary Assembly should thoroughly investigate the Russian Federation's hostile actions in the Baltic Sea area.