Norway and Germany have proposed the creation of Critical Undersea Infrastructure (CUI) Hubs to bolster NATO’s role in safeguarding vital energy and communication infrastructure across Europe’s maritime areas.
The two nations suggested establishing CUI Hubs in five maritime regions: the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea.
These CUI Hubs would oversee underwater infrastructure and leverage regional expertise to enhance awareness of activities in the underwater domain.
Personnel and resources from national authorities could be deployed to detect suspicious behavior and prevent potential threats.
Oslo has offered to assume responsibility for a CUI Hub in the High North, while Berlin has expressed its willingness to take charge in the Baltic Sea.
The proposal was presented and signed by Norway’s Minister of Defense Bjørn Arild Gram and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius, who met in Brussels during a NATO defense ministers meeting last week.
NATO’s Concerns Over Europe’s Pipelines
Amid the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine, NATO allies have warned of possible attacks against Europe’s underwater infrastructure.
In 2022, after weeks of explosions along the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the Norwegian and German governments already discussed a plan for undersea infrastructure security.
In June 2023, Belgian authorities investigated several Russian ships for reportedly spying on the North Sea’s infrastructure.