NATO’s militarization of Gotland risks putting Swedish island in nuclear crosshairs

Gotland is “situated in a very advantageous position” from NATO’s point of view, retired Russian Navy Captain 1st Rank Vasily Dandykin told Sputnik, commenting on Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s comments to FT that Stockholm is “open” to the idea of “reinforcing” the strategic Baltic Sea island militarily.

The island is situated less than 400 km from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, and is a prime location for the stationing of naval forces, coastal troops, naval and air bases and intelligence gathering infrastructure, Dandykin said.

In the event of direct aggression, Russia would be forced to respond, the observer warned. “The Swedes, who recently became new NATO members, and everyone else involved should understand this. In any case, more intensive [Russian] exercises will take place in the Baltic. We have to understand that Finland too is already a NATO member. Therefore, our actions will be adequate – both from Kaliningrad, where the Baltic Fleet is based, and from the rest of Russia. If attacked, we could use nuclear weapons.

The situation is not an easy one, and not just in the Baltic and other regions, but in the Arctic.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized late last month that Russia would take the necessary “military-technical” measures “to mitigate threats to Russia’s national security” stemming from Sweden’s NATO membership.

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