Germany’s defense minister says damage to 2 Baltic data cables appears to be sabotage

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s defense minister says officials have to assume that damage to two data cables under the Baltic Sea, one of which ends in Germany, was caused by sabotage — though he says they have no proof at present. Damage was detected Monday to the C-Lion1 cable that runs nearly 1.200 kilometers (750 miles) from the Finnish capital, Helsinki, to the German port city of Rostock. Another cable between Lithuania and Sweden also was damaged. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Brussels on Tuesday that “no one believes these cables were severed by mistake.”