The “ticking bomb” at the bottom of the Baltic Sea is a tempting opportunity for criminals. And the drama of the ecologists

The European Commissioner for the Environment calls for the Baltic Sea to be cleared of unexploded ordnance as soon as possible. Sinkevicius pointed out that there may be up to 300,000 at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. tons from the First and Second World Wars. Corrosive materials threaten e.g. the environment, fishermen and economic activities, and the construction of offshore wind farms.

Unexploded ordnance in the Baltic Sea. “Eastern Cod Collapsed”

Virginijus Sinkevicius expressed concern that weapons, ranging from rockets and grenades to unexploded mines and small caliber ammunition, could be recovered by criminals and used to make homemade explosives. In addition, in an interview with “”, he emphasized that chemicals, including white phosphorus and mustard gas, are leaking from the destructive weapons. ‘Eastern cod, which was widely fished in the Baltic Sea, has collapsed as a result of this environmental impact,’ we read.

“Ecological ticking time bomb” at the bottom of the Baltic Sea

The EU’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries last year described the situation in the Baltic Sea as “a veritable ecological ticking time bomb”. Virginijus Sinkevicius summoned ministers from the Baltic states to a meeting on September 29. The European Commissioner for the Environment will appeal to him for coordinated action to clean up, according to the Financial Times.

So far, Germany has been the most involved in the clearance of unexploded ordnance among the countries with access to the Baltic Sea. Berlin has allocated 1 million euros to develop robots for detecting and retrieving unexploded ordnance, and is also supporting the “Thyssenkrupp” project, which involves the removal of munitions from the seabed using a crane. In turn, NATO coordinated Baltic clean-up operations in May, including the removal of 40 mines in cooperation with the Latvian Navy.