On February 10, Alexei Zhuravlev, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's defense committee, warned that the seizure of the Russian tanker could lead to retaliatory measures.
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| President Putin is expected to react strongly to the scenario of EU countries seizing the "dark fleet" in the Baltic. (Source: Politico) |
Several European Union (EU) countries, including Finland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, are considering new legal mechanisms to seize more vessels in Russia’s “dark fleet” in the Baltic Sea under anti-piracy and international environmental law, Politico reported. They may even pass some national laws to legalize the move.
"Dark Fleet" is what the West calls ships that deliberately turn off their identification systems to hide their movements, possibly to erase the origin of goods such as oil subject to sanctions by Moscow.
The move follows an incident on December 25, 2024, when the Estlink 2 cable connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged, raising serious security concerns for critical infrastructure in the region.
Helsinki authorities later seized the Eagle S tanker, part of Russia’s “dark fleet” that was transporting crude oil from Russia to Egypt at the time of the incident and was seen near the scene. The ship is currently detained in Finnish territorial waters, where an investigation is underway to clarify all the details of the incident.
The incident has sparked international discussions about the safety of shipping and the protection of critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, and has prompted EU countries to consider keeping a closer eye on Russia’s special fleet, with the aim of cutting off the Kremlin’s revenue stream from discounted oil sales to Asia.
An estimated 40 percent of Moscow’s “shadow fleet” ships pass through the Baltic Sea, or nearly 350 vessels whose combined revenues are equivalent to about a third of Russia’s annual defense budget. So stopping the fleet from operating could deal a “huge blow” to the Kremlin financially.
However, according to Politico , the EU's new move could face many difficulties and challenges. First, international law and third-country ownership of some of the ships in the "shadow fleet" would entail huge political and legal costs - something Finland is facing after the incident that took place in December.
This may give pause to countries that intend to seize ships in Moscow's "dark fleet", especially since they will find it difficult to count on help from even the EU, let alone the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the new US administration.
Finally, tensions risk escalating if Russia dispatches naval convoys to escort its “dark fleet” through the Baltic Sea.
On February 10, Alexei Zhuravlev, deputy chairman of the Russian parliament's defense committee, warned that the seizure of the Russian tanker could lead to retaliatory measures. He asserted that "any attack on our transport vessels can be considered an attack on Russian territory, even if the ship flies a foreign flag."
Mr. Zhuravlev also said that Russia could respond to Europe by sending forces to "land on Western ships passing through the Baltic Sea" or mobilize its Baltic Fleet.
Analysts say President Putin is likely to react strongly to the scenario of EU countries seizing the "dark fleet" in the Baltic, which could lead to a political crisis and easily spiral out of control.
US President Donald Trump also does not support escalation against Russia, at least at this point, so he may not extend Article 5 guarantees to allies that make similar moves to Finland.
Therefore, the fate of Russia's "dark fleet" is likely to remain safe and the possibility of European countries confiscating Moscow's ships is low and if they do, it will certainly face a very strong reaction from the Kremlin.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/bi-eu-de-doa-so-phan-ham-doi-bong-toi-cu-a-nga-se-ra-sao-304336.html
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