Sweden has no plans now to apply for NATO membership and isn’t considering the issue, the country’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Monday. This is stated in the foreign policy declaration 2022, released by the country’s government. “Freedom from military alliances serves us well and contributes to stability andContinue Reading
Fem oppositionspartier vill markera det svenska självbestämmandet att kunna gå med i Nato. Men regeringen vill inte ha någon sådan diskussion och tvekar även inför kravet att låta exportera försvarsmaterial till Ukraina. Samtidigt får Sverigedemokraterna kritik för att inte stödja att EU-pengar går till Ukraina. Utrikesminister Ann Linde (S) presenterade påContinue Reading
Asked in an interview on Yle TV1 on Wednesday morning why the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) raised their level of internal security on Tuesday, Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen (Cen) said that, “Times are such that the Defence Forces are taking their own measures,” but denied that Finland is facingContinue Reading
Two German minehunter vessels are patrolling the Gulf of Finland, between Helsinki and Tallinn, on behalf of NATO. The two ships are both Frankenthal-class minehunters commissioned in the 1990s, and are at sea off the Finnish coast close to the Porkkalanniemi headland, Iltalehti reports (link in Finnish). Mine-clearing would beContinue Reading
The chair of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Mika Niikko (Finns), was forced to explain his comments on Twitter that appeared to contradict Finland’s foreign policy positions. He had suggested that French President Emmanuel Macron, or someone else, should state publicly that Ukraine would not join Nato. He soon deleted theContinue Reading
The Center for Defense Investment (RKK) has announced a €693-million long-term military vehicles and plant procurement, the largest military procurement made by Estonia to date. The vehicles will be mostly logistical in nature, including cranes, loaders and aircraft loaders. Toomas Kalda, RKK sector manager, said Monday that: “This procurement willContinue Reading
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held talks in Helsinki on Friday with Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP). The two met at the prime minister’s residence to discuss issues including the security situation in Europe. Speaking briefly to reporters outside afterwards, they stressed the importance of maintaining a dialogueContinue Reading
Nearly two-thirds of respondents to a recent poll said they were dissatisfied with the work of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform), while over half disapproved of the way the government as a whole has been working. These results, from a survey conducted by pollsters Norstat on behalf of conservative think-tankContinue Reading
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday that the country is considering stationing another 900 troops and new weapons in Estonia. This would mean the UK doubling the number of troops it has in Estonia. The Brits are currently in charge of a NATO battle group in Estonia madeContinue Reading
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) urged the United States to ramp up its military presence in the Baltic countries in an interview to Financial Times. Russia has amassed over 100,000 troops on the Ukraine border. Kallas wants NATO to boost its eastern flank presence irrespective of whether Russia invades UkraineContinue Reading