According to the draft amendment to the act approved last week, the Polish army will have the right to respond with force to terrorist attacks against maritime infrastructure.

During the Thursday meeting, the Council of Ministers adopted a draft amendment to the Act on the Protection of Shipping and Sea Ports, prepared by the Ministry of Defence. The amendment introduces important changes in the context of the existing and emerging maritime infrastructure, e.g. the Baltic Hub gas pipeline, but also offshore wind farms.

According to the proposed provisions, in the event of a terrorist threat to energy infrastructure at sea, the armed forces may be used. This means that the Polish army, including, of course, the navy, will have the right to react in the event of threats to the Baltic Pipe, offshore wind farms, submarine cables, energy and fiber optic networks, but also, among others, ports and marinas. In such a case, the Minister of National Defense will be able to issue a decision to sink a hostile floating or flying object that constitutes a terrorist threat. The head of the Ministry of National Defense will have to specify in his decision the units that are to carry out the order and the means they are to use.

At the same time, the authors of the project stipulate that it is intended to be used only in exceptional situations, when other response options have been exhausted.

According to the project, a permanent Border Guard base is to be built in Świnoujście, where Border Guard vessels will be on duty.

The project was approved by the Council of Ministers at a time when NATO and allied countries report that the threat to underwater infrastructure from Russia is growing. Poland has also admitted that it has repeatedly been the target of intelligence activities by the Kremlin. In its information, Reuters also reminds that after cutting off LNG supplies from Russia, our country is dependent on gas transport by sea – via gas carriers to the terminal in Świnoujście and via the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline.