The draft legislation was approved by the Polish government on Thursday, the Reuters news agency reported.
It comes amid heightened risk of attacks on Europe’s strategic energy infrastructure, following an act of sabotage targeting the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream gas pipeline last autumn, Poland’s biznesalert.pl website said on Friday.
‘Effective response to terrorist threats’
The Polish government “seeks to boost its options for responding effectively to modern terrorist threats,” according to a statement.
The draft legislation is designed “to ensure that the Polish army is allowed to respond to threats related to attacks on maritime energy infrastructure, especially the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline,” the government added.
Under the plan, Poland’s defence minister will be entitled to order the army “to sink an enemy ship or watercraft” in order to foil a terrorist attack, biznesalert.pl reported.
This measure would only be employed in "exceptional situations" and when other options have been exhausted, according to Reuters.
In similar circumstances, the Polish army would be allowed to thwart a terrorist attack by sinking an enemy airship, the Polish government said.
The draft legislation must be approved by parliament to become law.
Threats to Europe’s energy infrastructure
The sabotage attack on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines took place on September 26, 2022, a day before the launch of Baltic Pipe, which carries gas from Norway via Denmark and the Baltic Sea to Poland, biznesalert.pl said.
Since then, there has been a string of incidents involving Europe’s critical infrastructure, raising concerns about potential sabotage by Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine, the website added.
Poland is a key ally of Ukraine and a hub for deliveries of weapons to Kyiv, and says it has regularly found itself the target of Russian espionage, according to Reuters.
Poland has been cut off from Russian gas supplies a year ago and relies on LNG imports and pipeline supplies from Norway, Reuters reported.
On Wednesday, a top NATO intelligence official warned there was “a significant risk” that Russia could attempt to sabotage critical infrastructure in Europe and North America, including gas pipelines and undersea cables, as part of its war on Ukraine.
Friday is day 436 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: biznesalert.pl, Reuters, portalmorski.pl