[…] The Baltic Sea is a major theatre in what’s being described as the new Cold War between NATO and Russia. It is a relatively small body of water on the northeastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by landmasses in nearly all directions. Its surface area is slightly larger than Finland’s and its mean depth is only 54 metres. The Baltic Sea is connected to the world oceans only by the narrow Danish straits, which connect it to the North Sea. The Danish straits are formed by two straits immediately next to each other: The Öresund strait on the coast of Sweden and the Belt Sea on the coast of Denmark, which is comprised of the Skagerrak and Kattegat
These straits are important to Russia’s economy being a key trade route for Russian oil heading by sea to markets around the world, and historically as access to warm water deep oceans – a fundamental geostrategic driver throughout Russia’s history. […]
Is Russia a threat in the Baltic area? S.B. Ivanov, former Russian Federation Defence Minister, and Deputy Prime Minister, discussing the meaning of ”threat” a decade ago, said that its content had drastically changed from the purely standard military threats to the so-called uncertainty factors, which are understood by the Russian Federation Defence Ministry to mean the situation, conflict or process, ”which can bring about a significant change of geopolitical environment in the regions of Russia’s vital interests, or can directly endanger its security.” Läs artikel