Redaktionen

Below, Commander of the Finnish Defense Forces Gen. Janne Jaakkola gives an overview of his nation’s military posture, a year after joining the alliance. […]

Unlike many other Western countries, Finland has maintained conscription as a base for national defense, thus forming a large reserve — important capacity from the perspective of resilience and the ability to conduct operations on a larger scale and during longer lasting crises or conflicts.

Finnish wartime forces consist of 280,000 soldiers equipped and trained for operating in demanding Arctic and austere conditions. Läs artikel

White papers on Svalbard are produced at regular intervals. The latest, presented by Norwegian Minister of Justice and Public Security Emilie Enger Mehl in Longyearbyen on May 31, was written in a new security policy context.

Beyond the war in Ukraine and increased rivalry between China and the US, Norway’s Arctic areas are also central to security relations between NATO and Russia. Svalbard is increasingly attracting attention from countries far beyond the Arctic Circle: India has an Arctic strategy, and both North Korea and Turkey have signed the Svalbard Treaty.

Svalbard is Norway’s crown jewel in the north, the archipelago that makes Norway a polar superpower, granting it access to the Arctic Ocean, together with Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, Russia, and the USA.

“We want to strengthen national control and build up Norwegian presence on the archipelago,” Mehl asserted on the occasion of the new Svalbard paper’s presentation. Läs artikel

Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria have activated a naval task force dedicated to countering mine warfare in the Black Sea.

The move comes as Ukraine fights off a Russian invasion, which has involved clashes in and around the body of water. […]

Vice Adm. Mihai Panait, the chief of Romania’s Naval Forces, said the task force “not only enhances our collective operational capabilities but also addresses the conflict in our region, which has imposed the mobilization of the three riparian NATO states to ensure the freedom of navigation, respecting the Montreux Convention.”

The Black Sea is of strategic importance to NATO, of which all three countries are members. The organization last year encouraged allies to uphold the security and stability of the region, including through the use of the 1936 Montreux Convention. Under that agreement, Turkey manages the movement of commercial and military ships in and out of the Bosporus and Dardanelles. Läs artikel

Finlands parlament har nu godkänt avtalet om försvarssamarbete med USA, rapporterar finländska medier. Ingen omröstning behövdes eftersom riksdagen var enig.

Finlands DCA-avtal med USA – av samma slag som Sverige också har ingått – undertecknades redan i december. I april bedömde den finländske justitiekanslern dock att avtalet gjorde vissa övertramp på grundlagen när det kom till den amerikanska militärens nya befogenheter på finländsk mark.

Regeringens lagförslag behövde kompletteras, slog han fast.

DCA-avtalet ger USA tillgång till femton baser och övningsområden i Finland. Till vissa av områdena får endast amerikanerna tillträde.

Avtalet ger också USA möjlighet att lagra vapen och ammunition i Finland. Läs artikel

Sverige står inför ett viktigt val angående vad som kommer att ersätta Jas 39 Gripen-planen. Beslutet, som ska tas senast 2030, kan påverka svensk fred och frihet, generera tusentals högkvalificerade jobb och innebära stora ekonomiska konsekvenser.

Försvarsmakten utreder tre alternativ för framtiden: fortgå med inhemsk utveckling av stridsflygplan via Saab, ingå i ett internationellt konsortium för att bygga nästa generations plan, eller upphöra med att utveckla stridsflyg och köpa utländsk teknik.

Ett svenskt byte till utlandsk teknik kan vara dyrt och riskerar att inbringa negativa konsekvenser för nationell säkerhet, enligt Saab VD Micael Johansson och Socialdemokraternas försvarspolitiska talesperson, Peter Hultqvist. […]

Saabs egna siffror pekar på att ett F-35-plan kostar Norge och Kanada nästan tre gånger så mycket som ett Gripen-plan, sett över en livscykel.

För svensk del är då samhällsvinsterna inte med i beräkningen. Tusentals högkvalificerade jobb i Sverige, som både sprider kunnande och ger skatteintäkter. Läs artikel

The agreement which is submitted for ratification defines the common point in the Baltic Sea, where the boundaries of exclusive economic zones and continental shelf of Lithuania, Russia and Sweden cross over.

This agreement implements the provisions of the article 2 of the agreement between Lithuania and Russia concerning the delimitation of exclusive economic zones and continental shelf in the Baltic Sea, which was signed on 24 October 1997 and ratified on 19 October 1999 by the Seimas of Lithuania. The article 2 defines the coordinates of the final point which is on the boundary of the exclusive zone of Sweden.

It is international practice that such common points are defined with the participation of a third country, and in this particular case Sweden is the country.

The ratification of the agreement would allow the start of legal settlement concerning the boundaries of exclusive economic zones and continental shelf between Lithuania and Sweden. These boundaries have not yet been defined with Sweden.

“The agreement with Sweden would be an important step in completing the definition of Lithuania’s state terrestrial borders, exclusive economic zones and continental shelf“, Minister V.Ušackas said at the Seimas. Läs artikel

As the war in Ukraine continues into its third year of fighting, all parties appear more willing to escalate than to bring it to an end. In his annual “State of the Nation” address, President Vladimir Putin warned NATO nations that they “must, in the end, understand all this truly threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and therefore the destruction of civilization,” if they continue to arm Ukraine and consider sending troops. Even as far back as June 2022, Putin warned U.S. officials against sending long-range missiles to Ukraine, stating, “We will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting.”

However, American policymakers and analysts seem to think that Putin won’t put his money where his mouth is when it comes to escalation. Adam Kinzinger and Ben Hodges assured readers that Putin is bluffing with his threats of nuclear escalation. NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, dismissed the likelihood of Western aid to Ukraine leading to Russian retaliation. The Biden administration seems to agree, having recently allowed Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to strike inside Russian territory—a red line the administration previously refused to cross. […]

American policymakers and analysts today should exercise caution in interpreting Russian signals. Far too many are calling on the United States to plow through Russia’s red lines and continue its salami-slice escalation over the Ukraine conflict. It is important to note that there are cases throughout history where a country did not escalate a conflict or crisis after an adversary crossed its red line. With Russia’s enormous arsenal of nuclear weapons, however, it would be a risky gamble for American policymakers to assume that Russia would not eventually escalate. As Carl von Clausewitz observed, “In the whole range of human activities, war most closely resembles a game of cards.” With stakes this high, America should be cautious, lest it lose all its chips. Läs artikel

The Defence Ministry finds it premature at this point to inform public about specific potential changes regarding the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) with the United States and claimed that over the past months Slovakia has built a certain position in the negotiations that Bratislava doesn’t wish to undermine, TASR learnt from the Defence Ministry press department on Saturday. ”The Defence MInistry doesn’t approach changes to the DCA framework recklessly. We fairly informed our American partners that we’re not happy with some parts of the DCA and their subsequent practical interpretations. The American side is willing to hold talks about the changes,” claimed the ministry. After assuming his office, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) announced that it will be necessary to revise the DCA treaty, concluded in 2022, over what he sees as its ”unfortunate wording”. The DCA regulates the use of military airports Malacky-Kuchyna and Sliac by the United States forces. It is to stay in effect for ten years and subsequently can either stay in force or get repudiated with a cancellation period of one year. Läs artikel

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for resuming production of intermediate- and shorter-range nuclear-capable missiles banned under a now-scrapped treaty with the United States.

Under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF), signed by Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan in 1987, the two superpowers agreed to abandon their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (about 310 to 3,410 miles).

The accord eliminated an entire category of nuclear weapons and initiated comprehensive on-site inspections for verification, according to the Arms Control Association. Under the terms of the treaty, the U.S. and Russia destroyed 2,692 short-, medium- and intermediate-range missiles by the treaty’s June 1, 1991, implementation deadline, according to the Arms Control Association. Läs artikel

Two Russian submarines faced off against each other in a simulated attack in the Baltic Sea, where NATO conducted its own military drills at a time of heightened tensions between the alliance and Moscow.

The NATO accession of Finland and Sweden prompted by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine means that the body of water is surrounded by alliance members, earning it the nickname ”NATO Lake.” […]

The state-run Tass news agency reported on June 25 that following anti-submarine maneuvers, the diesel-electric submarines Novorossiysk and Dmitrov conducted a training duel. It said the crew of Novorossiysk ”carried out a torpedo attack” using ammunition without a warhead. […]

While the vessels are considered inferior to nuclear-powered submarines, the Novorossiysk is equipped with advanced sonar and can carry weapons—including Kalibr cruise missiles, which can be used against both land and sea targets.

Russia appears to be relying more on its submarine fleet to convey power. It recently deployed a flotilla that included its nuclear-powered submarine Kazan to Cuba, where it conducted military drills in the Caribbean in international waters close to the U.S. coast. Läs artikel