Sweden amps up security in Baltic Sea

By Elin Joensson

STOCKHOLM (AA) – Starting Wednesday, Swedish troops will be permanently stationed at one of Sweden's two islands in the Baltic Sea.

Gotland has been at the center of the military defense debate in Sweden as tension has increased in the Nordic region due to concerns over Russian planes bordering or violating national airspace.

State news outlet Sveriges Television (SVT) broke the news Wednesday morning after Supreme Commander Micael Byden took the decision to station troops at Gotland in the Baltic six months ahead of time.

"The situation in the world has deteriorated over time and that has made me take the decision for a permanent [military] presence," he told SVT.

A hundred and fifty soldiers currently undergoing training at Gotland, which has a population of 57,000, will stay on the island.

Different groups of soldiers will be deployed there until a fixed military unit is established in 2017.

Byden pointed out that there was no immediate threat against Sweden.

“This is based on a holistic perspective of our security situation, which has worsened,” Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter (DN). “It’s about making the decisions that we consider necessary, as we’re judging this situation as enduring.”

“It also sends signals to our partners and others. It’s not a decision that our partners deprecate, it’s rather the opposite,” he said.

Sweden has been a neutral nation since the end of the Napoleonic wars. It has deepened its partnership with NATO in recent years, with Swedish fighter jets partaking in a NATO-led air campaign in Libya in 2011.

In an interview with DN in April this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued a warning that Russia will take military measures if Sweden decided to join NATO.