The Swedish Armed Forces have raised the level of readiness at Headquarters and placed two Gripen fighter jets on the island of Gotland.
A statement on their web page reads: “In view of the serious developments in Ukraine, the Armed Forces act, among other things, by raising preparedness at Headquarters and intensifying intelligence efforts.” Lieutenant General Jan Salestrand, Chief of Defence Staff, said they are following the developments very closely.
“We’re making a statement and are upholding our territorial integrity by raising out incident preparedness,” Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told news agency TT on Friday night. “But that shouldn’t be interpreted as the existence of an imminent threat.”
According to the prime minister, Russian aggressions are escalating. “This is a type of behaviour that we saw during the Cold War and it’s now coming back,” Reinfeldt said.
The defence has also placed two Jas Gripen fighter planes on Gotland, where they are in a better position to quickly reach the Baltic Sea.
Starting Monday, the Swedish Armed Forces are taking part in the international naval exercise Northern Coast in Finland.
