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NATO's newest member says it's ready to fortify a strategic island in the middle of the Baltic Sea close to Russia

Sweden Gotland Island C-130
Swedish military officials watch a C-130H take off from a runway on Gotland Island on October 23, 2021.US Army/Sgt. Patrik Orcutt
  • Sweden is considering reinforcing Gotland, a strategic island in the Baltic Sea, after joining NATO.

  • Gotland's fortification is one of the first topics to be discussed with the bloc, Sweden's PM told the FT.

  • Gotland can decisively impact the defense of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland due to its location.

Sweden is open to re-fortifying a crucial island in the Baltic Sea now that it's joined NATO, its prime minister said.

Ulf Kristersson told The Financial Times that reinforcing Gotland is among the first things that Sweden will discuss with its NATO partners following the country joining the military alliance.

Gotland, an island with a population of about 60,000, sits roughly 50 miles from the Swedish coast — and 150 miles from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Strengthening Gotland "is one obvious thing to be discussed with our new NATO allies," Kristersson told the FT.

"Everything to do with the Baltic Sea is such an obvious candidate," Kristersson said. "That goes in terms of presence on Gotland, but also in terms of surveillance, in terms of submarine capabilities."

A map showing several Baltic states around the Baltic Sea, with an arrow pointing to the Swedish island of Gotland.
Gotland marked with an arrow in the Baltic Sea.Google Maps/Business Insider

Sweden's membership of NATO was formalized last week, a move that is considered somewhat of a game changer for the bloc's ability to counter potential Russian aggression, as Business Insider's Tom Porter reported.

Gotland is considered to hold a key strategic position in the Baltic Sea, and is often referred to as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier."

For NATO, "the control of Gotland can make a decisive difference in the defense of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland," Atlantic Council analysts Anna Wieslander and Eric Adamson wrote last year.

Sweden's military presence on the island has fluctuated in recent years. It was demilitarized in 2005 amid relatively optimistic post-Cold War relations — but in 2018, after Russia's annexation of Crimea, Sweden re-commissioned an armored regiment there.

In April 2022, two months into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Swedish government announced a $160 million investment in the island's military infrastructure.

Today, about 370 soldiers are stationed there, according to the FT.

Leopard 2 tanks, CV90 armored vehicles, and an air defense system are also active there, according to the Atlantic Council.

Sweden has shifted dramatically from its prior neutral status in recent years.

In January, its civil defense minister, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, bluntly warned that "there could be war in Sweden," alarming some opposition politicians, the BBC reported.

This year Sweden is also among 18 countries projected to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP — NATO's recommended threshold — as Russia puts its economy on a further war footing.

Read the original article on Business Insider