Gotland: Putin’s Achilles heel is a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea. No agreement during interparliamentary meeting between Switzerland and the EU

On one side of the island, tourists walk along the beach, on the other side soldiers practice with tanks in case of emergency: Sweden is arming its largest island, Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. Since the Swedish government demilitarized Gotland in 2005, the island has basically just been a sunny holiday spot. But with the Russian attack on Ukraine, the situation has changed.

Carl-Oscar Bohlin, Sweden’s Minister of Civil Protection, officially re-declared this change on January 10 at the annual People and Defense conference: “War could break out in Sweden.” More and more Swedes fear that they themselves will be attacked by Russia. Sweden is doing everything it can to join NATO as quickly as possible and is also preparing its army for this.

Sweden has already come quite far on this path. Turkey recently agreed to join NATO after a lengthy blockade – which Russian intelligence had sought to prevent. The only thing missing now is Hungary’s consent.

Experts agree: Sweden would be an asset to NATO. The country has an army that is powerful and well equipped. Moreover, the strategically important island of Gotland belongs to Sweden: it is said that from here the country can control the entire Baltic Sea. And Sweden is willing to extend this advantage to deter Vladimir Putin from launching an attack.

A crucial point in the Baltic Sea

If Sweden were to join NATO, the alliance would have a virtually closed area around the Baltic Sea, apart from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and the bay near St. Petersburg. Gotland plays a special role in this. The island has only 60,000 inhabitants and is slightly larger than Saarland, but has always been an important geopolitical hub in the past. The Vikings traded here around the year 800 and the German trading alliance of the Hanseatic League used the island as a stopover on journeys from the German coast to Sweden and Russia in the 13th century.

When asked by t-online, Swedish officer Thomas Ängshammar explains the military importance of the island as follows: “Gotland is the key to the Baltic Sea. Whoever controls Gotland can control all movements on the sea around it, both civil and military.” Ängshammar is head of communications of the Gotland Regiment P 18, which was only founded in early 2018.

Gotland’s high military value lies mainly in its location. From there it is only 200 kilometers to the Swedish capital Stockholm and only 350 kilometers to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. However, from Kaliningrad to Saint Petersburg it is more than 1,000 kilometers by sea. Since the Russian Baltic Fleet is based in Kaliningrad, Gotland could be the first target of a Russian invasion of the Baltic Sea. Russia could use the island as a bridgehead for further operations on the mainland and, for example, position air defense positions on Gotland. On the other hand, NATO missiles on Gotland could also reach the Russian mainland relatively quickly.

Submarines are crucial in combat

Sweden began remilitarizing Gotland in 2018 and stationing soldiers there. In the summer of 2023 there were 400, plus an equal number of conscripts, reservists and volunteers. In the future there should be 4,500 soldiers under arms. But that will take a few years, says Ängshammar. There are also Leopard 2 tanks stationed there, as well as CV-90 armored cars and, last but not least, Gotland-class submarines. In the event of a conflict with Russia, NATO could put these boats to good use, as the Russian Baltic Fleet includes 45 ships and submarines in addition to 3,000 marines. Sweden has four submarines, with two more expected to arrive in 2028.

The battle for the Baltic Sea will be won underwater, military expert Johannes Peters told ARD this summer. The Swedish submarines would be well suited for this battle because they are perfectly adapted to the shallow waters of the Baltic Sea.

Swedes are ready to fight back

Sweden’s desire to join NATO and make Gotland defensive marks a turning point for the country. Sweden has had peace for two hundred years; the country was largely neutral during the two world wars and the Cold War. The Russian attack on Ukraine has led to a rethink.

Anders Malm, the deputy commander of the Gotland Regiment, has also noticed a changing attitude among many Swedes towards the military. In an interview with ARD, he said: “Today there is a very clear understanding that defense is necessary and that the Swedish armed forces are doing a good job.” There is a relatively strong will to defend in Sweden.

However, there is also criticism of the armament on Gotland. Robert Hall, a youth recreation organizer, told ARD that tourism and quality of life were suffering due to the increasing military presence. His organic farm is already surrounded by military land on three of the four sides, which makes him uncomfortable.

Sweden’s accession could strengthen Germany’s security

In order to cooperate well militarily, NATO and Swedish troops have already trained with each other. On April 17, 2023, a battalion of 700 American soldiers marched from Norway across the border into Sweden. It was the beginning of one of the largest military maneuvers the country had seen in the past 25 years.

A total of 26,000 soldiers from fourteen countries took part in the exercise called ‘Aurora’. The training was for a scenario in which a foreign power infiltrates Sweden and an armed conflict takes place in the south of the country. You can read more about it here. According to Ängshammar, the rearmament serves to deter enemies and show that Sweden is ready to defend its country. There will also be a larger maneuver on Gotland in the summer, he says. Sweden is also taking part in ‘Steadfast Defender’, the largest military exercise since the end of the Cold War. You can read more about the maneuver with 90,000 soldiers here.

Sweden’s accession could also increase Germany’s security. The German federal government wants to invest 100 billion euros in the Bundeswehr as part of the ‘turning point’. But it will take some time for this spending to have an impact. Until then, the German army will remain ‘naked’, as Bundeswehr Colonel André Wüstner put it over a year ago. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) assumes that the situation in the Bundeswehr will only improve within three to five years. If a new ally, Sweden, were added beforehand, it would be a welcome help.

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