Sweden bolsters Gotland defence amid rising Baltic tensions

Sweden has strengthened its defence on Gotland in the Baltic Sea out of concern that "Russia might try to take control of it," said the kingdom's chief of the armed forces, Mikael Byden. "Who controls Gotland controls the Baltic Sea," he added.

Byden, quoted by The Moscow Times, emphasized that Sweden can help other NATO countries in the Baltic Sea live safely from Gotland. He stated, "If Putin invades Gotland, he will be able to threaten NATO countries from the sea. This would be the end of peace and stability in the Northern and Baltic regions."

In his opinion, Putin "has both eyes" on Gotland and the Åland archipelago. - "If Russia takes control and seals off the Baltic Sea, it would have an enormous impact on our lives—in Sweden and all other countries bordering the Baltic Sea. We can't allow that," - he concluded.

The day before, on May 21 at 8:00 AM Eastern Time, it emerged that the Russian authorities decided to expand the country's territorial waters in the Baltic Sea near the borders of Lithuania and Finland.

According to a government decree, Russia intends to recognize part of the water area in the eastern Gulf of Finland and near Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad region as internal maritime waters.

These reports were reacted to by Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry called Russia's plans to change maritime borders a "deliberate, targeted, escalatory provocation" and summoned the Russian ambassador for a meeting.

Opposition Russian journalists noted that Russia made territorial claims against Finland and Lithuania simultaneously with the beginning of tactical nuclear weapons exercises, which started on Tuesday in the Southern Military District. According to the Kremlin, these manoeuvres respond to "provocative statements and threats from certain Western officials."