Northern Europe Office

Anna Wieslander commented on the security situation and the recent Swedish military exercise on Gotland, the strategically located Swedish island in the Baltic Sea. Wieslander highlighted that Gotland has faced an increasing frequency of Russian hybrid activities and warned that Moscow could take advantage of the uncertainty surrounding US commitments to intensify such operations.

Wieslander discussed the outcome of the meeting, including the parallel announcement of the US–Sweden Technology Prosperity Deal, the future of NATO and American troop presence in Europe, as well as the ongoing war in Iran.

“To the east, Europe borders Russia, a revisionist state seeking to expand its political influence and territory at Europe’s expense,” writes Wieslander. At the same time, in the west, the United States “is signaling that it is preparing to hand over responsibility for the continent’s conventional defense to the Europeans,” while also “adopting a spheres-of-influence approach to the global order.”