Swedish PM says country neither at war nor at peace as armed forces enter Baltic
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Ulf Kristersson says ‘hostile intent cannot be ruled out’ as increased surveillance follows suspected cable sabotage. The Swedish prime minister has said that his country is neither at war nor at peace as he announced that Sweden would be sending armed forces into the Baltic sea for the first time as part of increased surveillance efforts amid a spate of suspected sabotage of undersea cables.
The country announced it will contribute up to three warships and a surveillance aircraft to a Nato effort to monitor critical infrastructure and Russia’s “shadow fleet” as the alliance tries to guard against sabotage of underwater infrastructure.
Speaking on the opening day of Sweden’s three-day annual Folk och Försvars (people and defence) conference in Sälen, northern Sweden, Ulf Kristersson also commented on the recent Baltic undersea cable breaks, saying “hostile intent cannot be ruled out”.
Amid hybrid attacks and “proxy wars” – citing Iran’s alleged use of members of Swedish gangs to commit crime – Kristersson said: “Sweden is not at war. But there is no peace either.”. He added: “True peace requires freedom and the absence of serious conflicts between countries. But we and our neighbours are exposed to hybrid attacks, carried out not with robots and soldiers, but with computers, money, disinformation and the risk of sabotage.” Those who want peace, he said, must “be prepared for war.”.
