The Baltic National Parliament (CBSS), which represents the democratic countries bordering the Baltic Sea, calls for new shipping rules to allow for stronger joint action against Russia’s so-called shadow fleet.
Following Friday's meeting in Estonia, foreign ministers of 11 members of the Council stressed the need to adapt to international regulations and maritime laws.
“We have no problem with the ability to respond and the ability to physically, but we have problems with international law,” said Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, who chaired the meeting.
His Polish counterpart, Radosław Sikorski, added: “We need a better regulation to create a predictable and safe environment for international trade and the navy.”
Ministers refer to Tuesday's incident where a Russian fighter plane briefly entered Estonian airspace. The Estonian Navy had previously tried to check tankers without flag status.
According to tsahkna, this is the first time Russia has officially demonstrated its ties to the shadow fleet, including ships with unclear ownership, to circumvent Western sanctions on Ukraine.
The EU has imposed sanctions on hundreds of ships, but the actual fleet size is expected to be larger.
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said about 84% of Russian crude oil exports and more than one-third of Moscow's budget revenue passed through the Baltic Sea through the shadow fleet.
Surveillance of undersea infrastructure in the Baltic countries has tightened in recent months as Shadow Fleet suffered several suspicious acts of vandalism on cables and pipelines.
Founded in 1992, CBSS includes eight Baltic coastal states in Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Sweden, as well as Iceland, Norway and the European Union.
Russia's membership was suspended in early March 2022 for its full invasion of Ukraine, and Moscow withdrew from the Council in May of the same year.
