Russian threat prompted Sweden to deploy troops to Gotland Island
The information about the growing threat posed by the Russian Federation was a crucial factor in the decision by Sweden to permanently deploy troops on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, Dagens Nyheter reported. According to newspaper, the Swedish authorities noted the growth of threat posed by Russia. However, information about the nature of this threat is classified as top secret.
“Something happened in the general intelligence picture but our citizens don’t know what exactly has happened. Anyway, we can see the consequences of this event. The urgent deployment of divisions on the island of Gotland isn’t an ordinary case,” said William Agrell, the professor of intelligence analysis at Lund University.
The Spokesman of the Swedish Armed Forces, denies that some specific event affected the decision to deploy troops on Gotland. “It is more likely that this was caused by the general deterioration of the world’s security situation. Regarding information provided by Dagens Nyheter, we don’t comment on the work of our Intelligence,” he said.
On the 14th of September, the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces, Micael Bydén, gave the order on permanent deployment of 150 soldiers on the island of Gotland. It should be noted that Swedish leaders originally planned for the permanent deployment of servicemen on the strategically important island in the Baltic Sea to push through in late 2017.