(MENAFN) In order to counter threats to underwater infrastructure, NATO is going to establish a new coordinating organization, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday. He made this remark just a few days after renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed that the United States and Norway were responsible for the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea in September.

“Protection of critical undersea infrastructure will also be high on our agenda,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels, following the meeting of NATO defense ministers. The US-led bloc “has been working on this for many years,” Stoltenberg also mentioned, noting that “and we are now taking it to the next level.”

In order to "map our vulnerabilities, and engage with industry," a new "coordination cell" are going to be formed at NATO Headquarters. This is going to "support our efforts to prevent and counter threats to critical infrastructure, including undersea cables and pipelines," according to Stoltenberg. He declared that more actions are going to be agreed upon during the July NATO meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Prior to leading NATO in 2014, Stoltenberg served as the prime minister of Norway. He did not respond to Hersh's piece from the previous Wednesday. None of the journalists that NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu summoned responded either.

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