IT has been less than a week since Sweden was declared the 32nd member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but the Nordic state has already planned its first assignment since it entered the alliance.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told the media that the fortification of Gotland would be one of the first topics that his country would discuss with its NATO allies.
Gotland–an island strategically positioned in the middle of the Baltic Sea — is situated only about 350 kilometers from Russia’s navy base in the enclave of Kaliningrad.
Warnings of countermeasures and plans by Russia to deploy more troops near Sweden and Finland prompted the Nordic country to consider the possible militarization of one of the most strategic islands in the Baltic Sea.
The commander of the Gotland Regiment previously said that the country that controls Gotland has the upper hand since it can control a lot of the air and sea movements in the Baltic Sea.
Sweden currently controls Gotland, which also happens to be the country’s largest island, where some people have been known to reside for more than five thousand years.
