{"id":125685,"date":"2024-02-27T07:30:03","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T05:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/news\/does-sweden-joining-make-the-baltic-sea-a-nato-lake\/"},"modified":"2024-02-27T07:30:03","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T05:30:03","slug":"does-sweden-joining-make-the-baltic-sea-a-nato-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/news\/does-sweden-joining-make-the-baltic-sea-a-nato-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Sweden joining make the Baltic Sea a \u2018NATO lake\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mp_wrapper\">\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-message\">\n    <p>You are unauthorized to view this page.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"mepr-login-form-wrap\">\n            \n<div class=\"mp_wrapper mp_login_form\">\n                  <!-- mp-login-form-start -->     <form name=\"mepr_loginform\" id=\"mepr_loginform\" class=\"mepr-form\" action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/\" method=\"post\" data-trp-original-action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/\">\n            <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_username\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n                              <label for=\"user_login\">Username<\/label>\n        <\/div>\n        <input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" value=\"\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_password\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n          <label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n          <div class=\"mp-hide-pw\">\n            <input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" value=\"\" \/>\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"button mp-hide-pw hide-if-no-js\" data-toggle=\"0\" aria-label=\"Show password\">\n              <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-visibility\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n            <\/button>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n            <div>\n        <label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n      <div class=\"submit\">\n        <input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button-primary mepr-share-button\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125685\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_process_login_form\" value=\"true\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_is_login_page\" value=\"false\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n    <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"trp-form-language\" value=\"en\"\/><\/form>\n    <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n    <div class=\"mepr-login-actions\">\n        <a\n          href=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/login-2\/?action=forgot_password\"\n          title=\"Click here to reset your password\"\n        >\n          Forgot Password        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n      \n    <!-- mp-login-form-end --> \n  <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"smart_content_wrapper\">\nSweden\u2019s accession to NATO adds a final puzzle piece to the alliance around the shores of the strategically important Baltic Sea \u2014 but Russia still poses a threat above and below water. After Finland joined last year, Sweden\u2019s membership \u2014 which cleared the final hurdle Monday with Hungary\u2019s vote on ratification \u2014 means all the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea, except Russia, will be part of the US-led military alliance.<\/p>\n<p>That has led some to label the sea a \u201cNATO lake\u201d, with the Western allies now appearing well-placed to strangle Russia\u2019s room for manoeuvre in the crucial shipping route if a war with Moscow ever breaks out. But analysts warn that while Sweden\u2019s entry makes it easier for NATO to exert control and reinforce its vulnerable Baltic states, Russia can still menace the region from heavily-armed exclave Kaliningrad and threaten undersea infrastructure. \u201cIf you look at a map then geographically the Baltic Sea is becoming a NATO lake, yes,\u201d said Minna Alander a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. \u201cBut there is still work to do for NATO.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, a series of high-profile incidents involving pipelines and cables under the Baltic Sea have given NATO a wake-up call over its vulnerabilities. In September 2022 a sabotage attack hit the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Europe. Over a year on, investigators have still not publicly named those responsible. Then last October a gas pipeline and a cable from Finland and Sweden to Estonia were damaged. Finnish police say they believe a Chinese cargo ship was likely involved.<\/p>\n<p>NATO has bolstered its naval deployments in response and is looking to step up its monitoring capabilities, but keeping an eye on what\u2019s happening beneath the water is a major task. \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to have overall control of a sea as you would control territories on land,\u201d said Julian Pawlak, a researcher at Germany\u2019s Bundeswehr University in Hamburg.\u201cWhat the Nord Stream sabotages have shown, among others, is that it remains hard to be aware exactly what is happening below the surface and on the seabed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sweden has long had a close partnership with NATO but its formal membership will allow it to be fully integrated into the alliance\u2019s defence plans. Beyond its long Baltic coastline, Sweden brings with it the island of Gotland which would play a central role in helping NATO impose its will. But just across the water Russia has its own vital outpost \u2014 the exclave of Kaliningrad. Wedged between Poland and Lithuania, Moscow has in recent years turned the region into one of the most militarised in Europe, with nuclear-capable missiles stationed there.<\/p>\n<p>Russia\u2019s Baltic fleet based in Kaliningrad is a shadow of what it was during the Cold War and the invasion of Ukraine has sapped some of its forces from the region. But John Deni, a research professor at the US Army War College, said the Kremlin has kept up investments in undersea capabilities and still has the firepower to stage small-scale landings or threaten NATO supply routes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn terms of artillery, indirect fires and nuclear-capable weapons they out-gun and out-range NATO allies in the region,\u201d Deni told AFP. \u201cAllies have to meet that threat and counter it.\u201d On the other side, while Stockholm brings with it a rich heritage of naval history, like other NATO states in the area its sea power in the Baltic remains understrength. \u201cEven if you count Sweden, NATO naval assets are relatively limited,\u201d Deni said, adding that the allies need to develop their ability to carry out demining under fire.<\/p>\n<p>Three countries breathing a particular sigh of relief over the entry of Sweden \u2014 and Finland \u2014 are NATO\u2019s Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, long seen as an Achilles heel for the alliance. War planners have struggled to work out how to stop them being cut off if Russian land troops seized the 65-kilometre (40-mile) Suwalki Gap between Belarus and Kaliningrad.<\/p>\n<p>Sweden\u2019s position straddling both the North and Baltic Seas opens up a key route for transiting more NATO forces to protect them in case of attack. \u201cIt allows US forces to reinforce the Baltic Sea nations in a timely manner, but especially the frontline states,\u201d said Tuuli Duneton, Estonian undersecretary for defence policy. Despite the joy at NATO over welcoming Sweden to the fold, however, US academic Deni insisted the alliance should lay off considering the Baltic its own property. \u201cCalling it a \u2018NATO lake\u2019 leads to complacency,\u201d Deni said. \u201cThe challenge and the threat posed by Russia in the region is significant in some ways and the allies for now lack the capacity to counter that in a crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.digitaljournal.com\/world\/does-sweden-joining-make-the-baltic-sea-a-nato-lake\/article\">DJ<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/csr-news-en\/does-sweden-joining-make-the-baltic-sea-a-nato-lake\/\">Does Sweden joining make the Baltic Sea a \u2018NATO lake\u2019?<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\">Vastuullisuusuutiset.fi<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[555,847,1344,13551],"class_list":["post-125685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-csr-news-en","tag-nato","tag-sea","tag-sweaden"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}