The Swedish military has reported an increase in visible activity on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea due to tensions between NATO and Russia, Reuters reported.
Sweden has expressed concerns about the recent deployment of Russian ships in the Baltic Sea. Lieutenant General Michael Claesson, head of the military’s Joint Operations Division, said troops have been patrolling the harbor and airport of Visby, Gotland’s main city, since Thursday.
Claesson explained the movement of the military to the island by the fact that Russian landing ships entered the Baltic Sea this week, and the deterioration of security conditions in the immediate vicinity of Sweden followed, the newspaper writes on Thursday, January 13.
“Recent security developments and political tensions have not changed this picture, but rather exacerbated it. Russian landing craft are an example of an offensive capability. They passed through the Danish Great Belt and on to the Baltic Sea,” he said, adding that the armed forces had recently noted an increase in foreign offensive capabilities near Sweden.
Gotland is the largest island in Sweden, is of strategic importance and is located about 330 kilometers from Kaliningrad, the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet.
In December 2021, Pär Salander, a Swedish political scientist and professor emeritus at Umeå University, reported that the West had fabricated the “Russian threat” to motivate Sweden’s gradual integration with NATO and the United States. According to the scientist, after analyzing the recent statements of Swedish politicians and their real actions in the international arena, only one conclusion can be drawn – about Washington’s “long arm” in Northern Europe.
On December 4, the Russian embassy in the United States stated that the Russian Federation does not threaten anyone, and it is the sovereign right of any state to move its troops across its own territory. They noted that it is NATO that is moving its military infrastructure and armed forces ever closer to the borders of Russia, and also recalled that US officials had already made exactly the same statements last spring, which ultimately turned out to be false.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
