VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta has urged the European Union to establish a permanent mechanism to protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Mediterranean.
Home Affairs Minister Genn Bedingfield made the call on Tuesday at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Dublin.
He said submarine telecommunications cables, electricity interconnectors, pipelines and other seabed infrastructure were vital to Europe’s security and economic resilience.
Bedingfield described the Mediterranean as a “superhighway” linking three continents and said EU efforts to strengthen seabed defence must have a strong Mediterranean dimension.
He said responsibility for monitoring and protecting critical infrastructure remained fragmented and called for a more structured European operational capability.
As a first step, Malta proposed a dedicated expert working group to examine the legal, technical, institutional, operational and budgetary requirements for such a mechanism.
The proposed capability would provide shared awareness of critical maritime infrastructure, coordinate national and EU resources and enable a rapid response to threats or incidents.
Bedingfield said Malta was prepared to participate in the initiative and explore hosting elements of a future Mediterranean capability.
He also cited a recent incident involving a Russian gas tanker that was allegedly attacked and subsequently left drifting in the Mediterranean.
The incident, he said, exposed difficulties in moving from monitoring a maritime security threat to taking coordinated operational action.
Questions over jurisdiction, sanctions, environmental responsibility, salvage and available intervention capabilities had to be addressed simultaneously.
Bedingfield said Europe needed clearer arrangements for incidents involving international waters, sanctioned vessels, suspected hostile activity or significant environmental and navigational risks.
He called for pre-agreed procedures for coordination, information sharing, legal assessments and the rapid mobilisation of appropriate European or national capabilities.
Malta, he said, believed the same principle should apply “below the surface of the sea”.
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