Sweden has sent hundreds of soldiers to reinforce a crucial island in the Baltic Sea when its defense minister warned that the Scandinavian country should not be naive and could be attacked.

A contingency unit for Sweden’s armed forces landed on Gotland on Friday and Saturday with an air and passenger ferry, which brings troops and equipment to an island many have compared to an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Baltic Sea.

The deployment comes amid growing concerns in the Nordic and Baltic countries about Russia’s intentions on the border with Ukraine, and how it could spread to neighboring countries. Swedish media this weekend noted increased Russian naval activity in the Baltic Sea when troops were sent to Gotland.

– It is clear that there is a risk. An attack on Sweden can not be ruled out. . . It is important to show that we are not naive. In Sweden, you do not take a nap if something happens. It is important to send signals that we take this situation seriously, says Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist told the radio station Ekot on Saturday.

Russia’s deployment of more than 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian border and its harsh diplomatic rhetoric have prompted Sweden and Finland, both militarily non-aligned, to stress that they have retained the opportunity to apply for NATO membership.

A majority in Sweden’s Riksdag is in favor of membership in the military alliance, but the ruling center-right Social Democrats are not and without their support, Sweden will probably not join.

Experts said that Sweden, which had no permanent military presence on Gotland from 2005 to 2016 because it reduced defense spending after the Cold War, was forced to act so clearly due to the relative weakness of the armed forces.

It took similar measures in August 2020 and sent armored vehicles along with holidaymakers’ motorhomes on the ferry to the popular tourist destination as Russia held a number of military exercises in the region.

Sweden has increased its defense spending significantly in recent years after a series of embarrassments, including not being able to distort jets when Russia simulated an attack on Stockholm because it was the Easter weekend, and after unsuccessfully searching for a suspected Russian submarine in the archipelago outside the Swedish. capital.

The three Baltic countries, which are members of NATO, had long called on Sweden to take Gotland’s security more seriously, and Swedish forces – together with a large contingent of American troops – carried out their largest exercise in decades in 2017, including an attack on Gotland, which a US general called “an unsinkable aircraft carrier”.

Already when the extra troops arrived this weekend, defense chiefs on Gotland tried to calm the locals’ nerves. – I sleep quite well at night and the risk of armed conflicts is low, says Mattias Ardin, head of Gotland’s regiment.

Swedish police also reported on Friday about unidentified drones flying over at least one and possibly as many as four nuclear power plants. The police, who informed Sweden’s armed forces, said that they regarded the events as possibly connected as “extremely serious”.