UK Offers Sweden Increased Military Presence

According to security policy expert Robert Dalsjö of the Swedish Defence Research Agency, a permanent presence on a rotary basis would strengthen Swedish security, but would be difficult to sell politically to the NATO-sceptical public.

The United Kingdom has offered Sweden and its fellow Nordic countries an increased military presence with naval forces as well as surveillance.

British Ambassador to Sweden Judith Gough called the northern regions "very important strategically", when presenting her proposal to national Swedish broadcaster SVT. According to Gough, the UK wants to main the region "characterised by low tension and close cooperation". To this end, Britain would like to see a rotary military presence.

"We can contribute with surveillance aircraft, AWACS, and Poseidon for example, because we want more control", Ambassador Judith Gough said.

At the end of March, the UK presented its new strategy for the High North and Arctic, which also includes Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland.

Presenting the new strategy, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK also wants to place a naval battle group that can rotate between Norway, Sweden, Finland, and other places in the region. The UK Navy's forces can include everything up to an aircraft carrier group with combat aircraft on board. Wallace also described Sweden as "part of the same family", pledging to do everything Britain can, "both militarily and in other ways" to support Sweden.

According to Gough, the UK should increase its presence in the region, however, the exact amount of military strength needed remains undecided and is up for debate with partners from Norway and Sweden.

According to security policy expert Robert Dalsjö of the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), a permanent military presence on a rotary basis, such as the US in Norway and NATO in the Baltics and Poland, would be difficult to implement politically.

"It would strengthen Swedish security. But it would be difficult to sell politically to NATO-sceptical public opinion", Dalsjö told SVT.

According to Dalsjö, questions about the format of the UK presence are relevant even in the event of Sweden joining NATO, as polls indicate a serious shift toward the alliance both among the general public andpoliticians.

Earlier it was reported that the perspective of currently non-aligned Finland and Sweden joining NATO was "a topic of conversation" during talks held last week and attended by both Nordic countries. Finland is reportedly expected to make a decision on the matter by June, while Sweden will announce its position later in the summer.

"When reasoning about Finnish and Swedish NATO membership, most people probably think that we could agree on the same terms as the Norwegians and Danes. This means no permanent bases in peacetime, and no nuclear weapons as well".