The Swedish military announced on Thursday that it was stepping up its activities on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland due to rising tensions between NATO and Russia over Ukraine.
Moscow has frightened the West by gathering troops near Ukraine, sparking fears that it is considering invading. Moscow denies any such plans, saying it could deploy forces on its territory at will.
Gotland, Sweden’s largest island, is strategically important and is located about 330 km (205 miles) from Kaliningrad, the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet. In 2019, Sweden developed an updated ground-to-air missile defense system on the island.
“From today, we will have patrols outside that will be visible in some places, including (city) Visby,” said Gotland Regiment spokesman Thomas Angsamar.
Sweden is not a member of NATO, but has close ties to the Atlantic Alliance and is stepping up its armed forces after decades of neglect amid growing concern about Russian moves in the Baltic Sea region.
Stockholm has protested in recent years over a number of incidents involving Russian military planes, including violations of Swedish airspace.
Sweden’s top military commander said last week that Sweden’s security strategy would be completely undermined if NATO agreed to refrain from further expansion and to limit some of its activities in Europe, as requested by Russia.
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Source From: Capital
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