Sweden and NATO have long worked together to assess security in the Baltic Sea region.
The Baltic Sea has a long history of being a strategic location on the globe.
It provides access westward into the Atlantic Ocean and all of the different players here
on the Baltic coast want to be able to use the waterways.
The Baltic Sea, along with the access routes it provides, is vital to European security
and while Sweden is not a NATO member, securing the region is a priority for both.
This is the Swedish island of Gotland.
Its proximity to both the Swedish mainland and the Baltic States makes it integral to
Baltic Sea security.
The town of Visby, Gotland’s medieval capital, is a place that knows a thing or two about
defences.
Historically, an important merchant town under threat from foreign invaders, parts of Visby
have been encircled by this wall and its guard towers for almost 800 years.
And while these walls are from a bygone era, a modern approach to Sweden’s defence has
seen a permanent military presence stationed on Gotland for the first time in over a decade.
Our role now is to re-establish a permanent military force here again and that is everything
from building the infrastructure, recruiting the force, training the force, command and
control facilities and everything around that, so that is what we’re working hard with
right now.
As well as stationing troops back on Gotland, a changing security situation in Europe has
meant that Sweden has also reintroduced conscription and increased its defence spending.
We have annexation of Crimea, a war going on in Ukraine, we have pressure towards the
Baltic States, and we have a lot of activities in the Baltic Sea area.
Now we’re upgrading our military capability, but also deepening the cooperation with other
countries.
Gotland featured prominently in a recent major exercise, Aurora, as did the Swedish archipelago,
another key strategic location in the Baltic Sea.
This is the Stockholm Archipelago in the exercise Aurora, and there are thousands of islands,
and they are along the sea lines to great harbours in Stockholm that are very important
for us to control, to deny the enemy access to our harbour.
Exercise Aurora, which was Sweden’s largest in nearly 25 years, also involved a number
of NATO nations.
Despite they’re not being a NATO member, I think that’s even more reason to partner
with them and work with them so we can start to build that common military language, and
just the understanding of how each other operates.
Sweden has worked side by side with NATO in the Balkans, Libya and Afghanistan and is
what is known as an ‘Enhanced Opportunities Partner’, and ministers from Sweden are
regularly invited to participate in NATO ministerial meetings to discuss security issues of shared
concern, as are ministers from Finland and representatives of the European Union.
We have excellent cooperation in many levels, we are in the same exercises, so my feeling
is that we have a very good and open relationship, and we want to develop that.
The steps taken by Sweden to build on their defensive capabilities reflect a more challenging
security situation in Europe.
NATO and Sweden continue to forge a close partnership, demonstrating a shared commitment
to securing the Baltic Sea region.