Eight European countries, including the Netherlands, will file a complaint with the United Nations (UN) on Monday about ongoing Russian sabotage of European satellite communications, according to documents in Nieuwsuur’s possession.
For about a year now, several European countries have been experiencing disruptions to satellites operated by Eutelsat and SES - Europe’s two most important satellite providers. The most striking disruption occurred last spring, when Russian war propaganda suddenly appeared on children’s television channel BabyTV on two occasions. During the same period, Russian propaganda appeared multiple times on Ukrainian television channels.
Eutelsat is based in France, and SES is based in Sweden and Luxembourg. The companies investigated the disruptions last year and concluded that they came from Russia, trying to disrupt Ukrainian television. The disruption to the kids’ channel in the Netherlands was “collateral damage.”
The complaint is signed by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Finland, France, and the Netherlands. It will go to the International Telecommunication Union (UTI), the highest international body responsible for satellite communications. The body falls under the UN. Another 17 EU member states and the United Kingdom also supported the complaint.
“By signing the complaint, we are showing that we, as the countries involved, are working together on this,” the National Digital Infrastructure Inspectorate, part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, told Nieuwsuur.
“It is very good that the Netherlands is taking action against this,” Patrick Bolder of The Hague Center for Strategic Studies told the program. “You have to expose who is doing it and how damaging it is.”