Although the action will not go down well in Russia, reprisals are not an option for the time being. “Our services have been notified, both diplomatic and OCAD, as a crisis center for possible reprisals. We will see,” Vansina said.
Annelies Verlinden, Minister of Justice and the North Sea, emphasizes that the Belgian authorities are prepared for possible incidents: “Other countries have also seen this, it could be a cyber attack, it could be drones. The national crisis center is of course fully aware of the operation and is following everything closely. We know how Russia works with those hybrid wars, so we are not surprised by that.”
Once we arrived in Zeebrugge, the DG Shipping and the shipping police checked the entire ship. How long the Ethera will remain on the chain depends on the violations found. “These people will remain on board until further notice. First their identity will be checked, information will be gathered and then it will be determined whether or not the ship can sail further, or whether it should remain here and the crew may have to be finally deported from our country,” said Verlinden.
