Rome | November 21, 2025: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has taken a significant step to strengthen the defence of vital undersea cables and pipelines in the Mediterranean region. Its new “Critical Undersea Infrastructure” (CUI) network held a meeting in Rome on November 20-21, bringing together military, civilian and industry experts from Allied nations and partners.
At the meeting, experts discussed how hybrid threats—including sabotage or interference with undersea data cables and energy pipelines—pose a growing risk to global communications and energy supply. NATO says the Mediterranean region is now “too critical to ignore”.
Participants highlighted new technology such as sensing systems, unmanned vehicles and real-time surveillance as key tools in deterring threats. They also visited the Italian Navy’s Undersea Infrastructure Surveillance Center to observe how civilian and military actors are working together.
A 360-degree approach to security is vital for the Alliance. The Mediterranean region could not be more critical,” said Ambassador Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Cyber & Digital Transformation.
NATO’s CUI-Network first assembled in February 2024. As part of its broader approach, the alliance also launched “Baltic Sentry” after a series of undersea-infrastructure disruptions in the Baltic Sea in December 2024.
For more details, see the official NATO news release.