Germany and Finland say they are “deeply concerned” after the undersea cable connecting the countries was cut.
The break in the 1,170km (730-mile) telecommunications cable – which is under investigation – comes at a time of heightened tension in Russia.
The foreign ministers of the two countries said in a joint statement: “Our European security is not only in the danger of Russia’s war on Ukraine, but also in the hybrid wars of hostile actors.”
Damage to pipelines in the Baltic Sea has raised fears of destruction in recent years.
In October 2023 the natural gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was very damaged. Finnish officials later said the incident was caused by a Chinese container ship dragging anchor.
And German prosecutors are still investigating the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in 2022.
There have been conspiracy theories surrounding the attack, with unconfirmed rumors that the Ukrainian, Russian or US governments may have been behind it.
The latest incident involves the fibreoptic cable C-Lion1 connecting the capital of Finland, Helsinki and the German city of Rostock.
Finnish network operator Cinia said all fiber connections to it had been cut.
“These types of breaks do not occur in these waters without external influence,” Cinia’s spokesperson told local media.
Samuli Bergstrom, a security expert for the Finnish government, said that the failure does not affect the availability of internet between the two countries as there are other cable routes.
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