The rise of Russia’s military threat in Sweden has re-ignited the debate over whether the country should join NATO. A similar discussion has taken place recently also in Sweden’s neighboring country Finland.
Russian missiles in Kaliningrad
The leadership of the Swedish Armed Forces announced this week that it will increase the presence of troops in certain regions of the country, but the most visible will be on the island of Gotland.
Dozens of armed soldiers are patrolling the island’s largest city, Visby Airport and Port, as well as ten armored personnel carriers.
Gotland is just over 300 kilometers from Kaliningrad, where Russia has launched the Iskander short-range ballistic missile.
Sweden also said that Russia had sent several landing craft to the Baltic Sea this week.
Sweden has justified the strengthening of its military presence on Gotland due to the tense situation between Russia and Ukraine.
Strategically important island
Lieutenant General Leif Claisson of the Swedish Army said that “this does not necessarily mean an increased level of threat”, but that the country wants to “adapt to the prevailing situation”.
Sweden is stepping up its military presence on Gotland
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The Swedish Minister of Defense, Peter Hultqvist, justified the deployment of additional troops to Gotland on the strategic importance of the island.
“Anyone who controls Gotland has a great deal of influence in the Baltic Sea. If it is occupied by the troops of a hostile country, it affects Sweden, Finland and the whole of the Baltics. That is why Gotland and other islands in the Baltic Sea have an important role to play, ”the minister said in an interview with Swedish Radio.
After the end of the Cold War, Sweden had significantly reduced its military spending and withdrew troops from Gotland.
Following Russia’s occupation and invasion of Crimea in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Sweden significantly increased military spending, reinstated compulsory military service, and redeployed an army unit to Gotland.
Sweden is not a member of NATO, but works closely with the Alliance.
Sweden and Finland are considering joining NATO
Maria Zakharov, a spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry, said in late December that Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to NATO would “have serious military and political consequences that would require adequate steps on the part of Russia.”
Swedish and Finnish officials responded to Russia’s threat that no one else would have the right to decide whether the two countries would be able to join the alliance.
Sweden has officially strengthened its status as a neutral country, but since 2014 there has been growing public support for Sweden’s accession to NATO.
In a poll published last January, 33% of Swedes were in favor of joining the North Atlantic Alliance, while 35% were against it. By comparison, in a similar survey in 2016, 50% of respondents opposed Sweden’s membership in NATO.
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the Finnish public media Yle that if Sweden and Finland expressed a formal wish to join NATO, the two countries would be admitted expedited.
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