Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet
On March 7, two years passed since Sweden became a member of NATO. These two years have also meant great unrest and turmoil. The world has changed a lot to say the least , geopolitical continental plates have shifted, and are still shifting, violently. In the Nordic region, tthe recognition of direct threats from the outside world has taken place. Those calling for Europe to emerge from its slumber no longer need to question if the northern flank is awake.
In a new NATO analysis, “Towards a New NATO,” published by us at Stockholm Free World Forum, analyst Minna Ålander summarizes how NATO is affected by a weakened transatlantic link and what the membership has meant for regional cooperation. European allies are providing new contributions to the northern flank, and Sweden and its Nordic neighbors are taking on extensive operational responsibility within the alliance.
The day before the anniversary of membership, the Swedish Coast Guard, together with the police’s National Task Force, boarded the first of two different vessels (on separate occasions) off Trelleborg suspected of belonging to the Russian shadow fleet.
Sweden, like Finland, has in recent years found new ways to relate to and manage an escalating hybrid war in our immediate vicinity. There have been incidents both at sea and in the air around the Baltic Sea that have been surrounded by question marks. And the conversations have moved increasingly toward discussions on how we respond to hybrid events, moving away from the more passive approach of merely observing and documenting them.
Just over a week before the boardings off Trelleborg, the Swedish Armed Forces managed to jam a drone in the vicinity of a visiting French aircraft carrier in Malmö.
Our Swedish preparedness and actions in these types of situations have developed in parallel with the Swedish phasing into NATO. This is a welcome and important direction for a democratic and free country that is serious about its freedom and future.
Cooperation within the Nordic-Baltic region, along with Poland, Germany, as well as the United Kingdom, France, and others, including the transatlantic partner Canada, is growing in strength and value day by day, both within NATO and beyond the defense alliance. A recent joint Nordic-Canadian declaration in connection with a prime ministers’ meeting in Oslo points to the common ground shared by democracies that believe in upholding law and order, human rights, territorial integrity, and the sovereignty of states. Right now, unity between ourcountries is truly of vital importance so that we jointly and firmly assert our shared interests and values. The fact that Iceland is preparing a referendum in August on whether the country should resume negotiations for EU membership is also a promising sign.
The Nordic region, not least Sweden, is awake. This is good news, and this alertness could preferably be applied to a number of other areas that do not have the same direct existential significance, but nonetheless create continued vulnerabilities and risks for the future. We should use our new position of strength, both within and beyond the alliance, to be more proactive and forward-leaning when it comes to what is best for the Nordics, as well as for Europe and the Free World at large.
Anna Rennéus Guthrie, Director of the think tank Stockholm Free World Forum (Frivärld)
