Three Swedish tanks patrolled a road near the city of Visby, north of the island of Gotland, on Sunday. Karl Melander/TT (AP)
Sweden has sent hundreds of troops over the weekend to reinforce the island of Gotland, a crucial enclave in the Baltic Sea, after Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist warned that the Scandinavian country could be attacked. The military operation is part of a context of growing pressure from Russia on the Ukrainian border, before which the Swedish Government has shown its concern. Amid security negotiations between the United States, the European Union and the Kremlin, both Washington and Brussels fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin will hasten the end of diplomatic channels. A recent report by the Joe Biden Administration warned of the creation of a false pretext for Moscow to invade Ukraine again, something that makes the Baltic countries (Estonia,Latvia and Lithuania) and Nordics (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark) be on their guard.
An emergency unit from the Swedish Armed Forces landed on Gotland on Friday and Saturday by plane and passenger ferry, bringing troops and equipment to the island. Located in the middle of the Baltic Sea, with access to Russia from Saint Petersburg and Kalingrad, Gotland has been compared to an aircraft carrier. "Who controls Gotland, controls the Baltic", was the mantra that dominated Defense in Sweden in 2018.
“Clearly there is a risk. An attack cannot be ruled out. It is important to show that we are not naive. Sweden will not be caught in its sleep if something happens. It is important to send signals that we are serious about this situation,” Minister Hultqvist said in an interview on Swedish public radio. Seven years after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, Russia has multiplied its presence on the border with its neighbor in the separatist region of Donbas, with up to 100,000 soldiers.
In the negotiations with the US and the EU, Moscow demands, among other demands, the renunciation of an expansion of NATO and a return to the military borders of 1997. The harsh diplomatic rhetoric has led Sweden and Finland, both militarily non-aligned , to emphasize that they retain the option of applying to join NATO. For years, polls have revealed that just under 40% of the Swedish population would like a referendum to join the Atlantic Alliance.
In August 2020, a similar situation occurred in which the Scandinavian government sent armored vehicles on a ferry, while Russia conducted a series of exercises in the region. Despite the arrival of troops this weekend, senior military officials tried to calm residents: "I sleep quite well at night and the risk of armed conflict is low," said Mattias Ardin, head of the Gotland regiment, to the Swedish newspaper
Aftonbladet
.
Swedish media also reported that an unidentified drone had flown over Stockholm on Saturday, including the Royal Palace.
It is not the first unmanned aerial vehicle detected by the Swedish authorities.
Police reported Friday that unidentified drones flew over at least one and possibly as many as four nuclear power plants.
An action that they called "extremely serious".
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