The Russian Foreign Ministry accuses Sweden of planning a NATO base on Gotland.
But no such plans exist.
– This is Russian rhetoric that is about simply scaring us. You try to shape the information environment and then you come up with things that you think can stick, says Lieutenant Colonel Joakim Paasikivi.
Sweden and Finland’s membership in NATO causes a headache for Russia. Moscow says it has re-established a military district to counter the threat in the north, and most recently is preparing measures in response to an alleged planned NATO base in the Baltic Sea.
The alleged plans turn the Baltic Sea into an “arena for geopolitical confrontation,” according to Russia.
But all this is part of Russia’s information warfare, according to Joakim Paasikivi. Russia knows that NATO is not a threat, but rather an obstacle to Russian expansion, says the expert.
“What Russia is trying to do is influence us”
– What Russia is trying to do is to influence us so that our decisions will promote Russian security policy. The word “Natobas” can resonate in NATO-critical circles. It immediately becomes news, says Paasikivi.
Several media wrote during the morning about Russia’s marking of the NATO base. The news was later nuanced to be about an allegedly planned NATO base, but then the machinery is already in motion, according to Paasikivi.
– Russia has great success in information warfare precisely because we have such a news environment where you want to be first, says Paasikivi.
– What do they even mean by Nato base, one might ask, says Joakim Paasikivi.
Staff offices are expected to open in Sweden
Yes, what do they mean? Now that Sweden is in NATO, it is very likely that a staff office will be opened in Sweden. Three cities have expressed an interest in hosting one, Östersund, Boden and Luleå.
There are no plans to open NATO bases in Sweden at all, according to the Swedish Armed Forces.
What is planned on Gotland is a reserve port, which is said to be partly a consequence of the membership.