Sweden has launched its biggest military exercise in 25 years

“These exercises are taking place in the air, on land and at sea, over a large part of the country,” the Swedish Armed Forces announced in a press release, opening the largest military exercise in Sweden in 25 years on Monday. The military said the maneuvers should continue until May 11 and focus on the north and south of the country, as well as the strategic island of Gotland. NATO has less than 26,000 troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Finland, Poland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Denmark, Austria, Germany and France.

Membership request blocked

Along with Finland, the Scandinavian kingdom asked to join the military alliance following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in May 2022, ending two centuries of neutrality and then military non-alignment. On April 4, Helsinki officially became the 31st member of NATOBut the Swedish candidacy still has to be ratified by all member states of the organization In the face of hostility in Ankara and Budapest. Turkey has been particularly critical of Sweden for not extraditing dozens of Kurdish activists or individuals accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of participating in a 2016 coup attempt.

Western diplomats are hopeful that the Turkish president will win next month’s election, or that his social democratic rival will give the green light to Sweden. Sweden moved closer to the Alliance in the 1990s by joining its Partnership for Peace. But without membership, the guarantee of collective security is not subject to Article 5. A delicate situation: Sweden, the only Nordic country outside NATO, could become a strategic territory for Russia in the event of a conflict, experts warn.

(AFP)Show comments