The Swedish Armed Forces' emergency force - the operational contingency unit - landed on Friday night on Gotland in a large American transport plane in Visby
Swedish military convoy on its way to Nynäshamn
A top military chief in Sweden said Friday that there is increased Russian activity in the Baltic Sea which "deviates from the normal picture," leading the Scandinavian nation's military to raise its preparedness
2 year agoCombat vehicles roll on the streets of Visby
2 year agoSwAF Korpen watching Russia
Lavrov said NATO is artificially luring Ukraine and the Scandinavian countries into its ranks
Sweden calls up reserve officers to beef up units in Gotland which raised readiness
Abiy has 'special responsibility' to end Tigray conflict: Nobel panel
Across Norway, the Civil Defense sirens just sounded the "Important Announcement - Seek information" signal, at 1200 local time. This is normal routine testing, conducted twice annually, in January and June
2 year agoA Finnish readiness unit deployed into a snap drill this morning. Scheduled exercise
Denmark has offered to send four F-16 fighter jets and a frigate to NATO's operations in the Baltic region and northern Europe in response to Russia's troop build-up at Ukraine's border
The head of the Defense Intelligence Service of Denmark for six years, Lars Findsen, has been arrested in a serious case of leakage of "highly classified information".
Disruption at one of two undersea cables to Svalbard: The disruption is located somewhere between 130 to 230 kilometers southwest of Longyearbyen in the area where the seabed goes from 300 meters down to 2700 meters in the Greenland Sea
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde today and discussed shared concerns on Russia’s military build-up on Ukraine’s borders.
Blinken in his presser notes that Russia's claims that NATO is threatening Russia is false. NATO "exists to protect, not to attack," he says. "NATO never promised not to admit new members. there was no promise that NATO wouldn't expand"
Jens Stoltenberg: Spoke with President @niinisto about the security situation in Europe and Russia's build-up in & around Ukraine. We call on Russia to de-escalate. We continue to coordinate with our close partner Finland. NATO respects the right of every country to choose its own path
Finnish president: "And let it be stated once again: Finland's room to manoeuvre and freedom of choice also include the possibility of military alignment and of applying for NATO membership, should we ourselves so decide. NATO's business is the so-called Open Door policy"
Leader of Finland's biggest opposition party says "NATO membership would improve Finland's security and bring predictability to our region". Green Parliament Group leader (in gov't) says "NATO membership of Finland & Sweden would clarify Europe's security arrangements and build stability"
3 year agoOne of the most northerly towns on Planet Earth (Qaanaaq, Greenland) at latitude 77.3N rose to a staggering +8.3°C today. The sun set in late October and will not rise here until 13 February 2022. Today marks the Winter Solstice
3 year agoKola, Barents, and White Sea NOTAM/PRIP update. The large Barents area has been extended to the 23rd - 27/28th. The PRIP closes large parts of the Barents and White Seas. Relate this to upcoming NORFLT activity. NOTAM for Pechenga-area also indicates 200th and 61st activity
Finland: Attic of Meira coffee roastery is burning in Helsinki's Vallila district. Building has been evacuated, no reports of injuries. Lots of smoke in area
A man was shot to death in Malmö - the police are now chasing one or more perpetrators
The Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament today meets in Stockholm at ministerial level, co-chaired by Swedish FM @AnnLinde and German FM @ABaerbock. We must push nuclear-weapon states to take steps towards disarmament
Biden and Niinistö have talked tonight. Shared concerns about Russia's destabilizing military buildup along Ukraine's border and the importance of transatlantic efforts to de-escalate the situation
2 cargo vessels collided in Baltic Sea, one capsized
Finland to buy Lockheed F-35s, Finnish government confirms
Cargo ship fire off Gothenburg: Timber cargo is still burning. Captain has refused to evacuate, Nato vessel has participated in rescue effort
Five arrested men preparing "far right terror attack," say Finnish police
Dmytro Kuleba: Important news from Brussels. The EU Council has decided to provide 31 million euros to Ukraine to strengthen its defense capabilities under the newly established European Peace Facility. We highly appreciate this step, which once again proved the strategic nature of Ukraine-EU relations
3 year agoFM of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba:Pleased to meet with @JosepBorrellF in Stockholm. We discussed the need to deter Russia and speed up work on specific economic restrictions which will be able to hit the Russian economy should Moscow decide to launch a new stage of aggression against Ukraine
