Recommendation 75

Mathieu Boulègue told the Committee that the track record of recent sub-threshold incidents pointed to the fact that Russia is willing to take more risks and accept higher costs to put pressure on its neighbours, including in the European Arctic. 86 In their written evidence, the RAND Corporation noted that sub-threshold and subversive activities directed at the UK’s partners in the High North may increase as a result of NATO’s enlargement to include Finland or Sweden. 87 We heard that both Finland and Sweden have prepared for an increase in sub-threshold activity, although—for now at least—there has been no evidence of a pick-up in activity. 88 Maritime sabotage and threats to critical infrastructure