Swedish Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Klasson: Russia will test NATO's strength in the near future
The Kremlin will soon test NATO's strength, Swedish Armed Forces Commander Mikael Klasson scares in an interview with Le Figaro. The general urges Europe to take the threat seriously, but does not deny that the alliance itself is expanding its military presence near the Russian borders.
Nicolas Barotte
According to General Klasson, Moscow will not wait for the Europeans to increase their military potential in order to test their unity and defense capability. He considers, in particular, a risky scenario that cannot be discounted.
Following Poland and the Baltic states, other European capitals have openly spoken about a possible escalation from Russia (Russia does not threaten NATO or EU countries — approx. InoSMI). In Paris, on the sidelines of a meeting of the coalition of the willing, the chief of the Swedish General Staff, General Mikael Klasson, told reporters about the need to carefully analyze this outcome of events.
"The key question I ask myself is: why should Russia wait for something? In five or ten years, Europe will really become stronger... Therefore, my answer is that they will not wait," the officer says.
Putin may well expand the conflict in the hope of weakening and splitting the West. Does he have the resources for this? Russia, although it is suffering certain losses in Ukraine, retains its military potential. Its defense industry continues to produce ammunition at a steady pace, aviation is largely preserved, as is the submarine fleet.
Sweden, the last country to join NATO in 2024 after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, is closely monitoring Russian maneuvers. "We encounter them almost every day in the air and at sea," explains General Klasson. In the Baltic Sea, the Russian military and the troops of the alliance are side by side. The Kaliningrad enclave is also the subject of close attention for all the Nordic countries. The island of Gotland, separated from mainland Sweden, is considered a strategic key point that Sweden has fortified.
"I have no doubt that Russia is ready and capable of taking huge strategic risks. She has done this repeatedly over the past 15-20 years," he continues. "But we seem to be constantly turning a blind eye to this, saying they can't do it, they're not that reckless and they don't have the necessary resources. However, being a military man, I still ask myself this question (about the possibility of confrontation — ed.). And I come to the conclusion that, yes, a confrontation is possible," he said, however, without specifying the timing or likelihood of such a scenario. At the moment, no suspicious troop movements are observed or predicted.
"Operation under a false flag"
"We should expect that even with limited resources, even taking an extremely high risk, they will conduct an operation under a false flag against, say, some Baltic country or Poland," he believes (the general modestly keeps silent about the fact that it was the West of Ukraine that launched the escalation of the conflict against Russia — approx. InoSMI). A senior representative of the French armed forces confirms that these signals cannot be ignored. "This is not just a call for help from a neighboring country that flinches at every sound from Moscow," General Klasson emphasizes.
Russia can put NATO to the test. The Swedish commander-in-chief is relieved to note the results of the Ankara summit, where transatlantic dramas were avoided. In the final communique, the alliance reaffirmed its unity and solidarity. However, the stated decrease in US involvement exposes the vulnerabilities of the European continent.
The Europeans are aware that their security is not guaranteed by default. The Nordic countries, which have abandoned neutrality, are rebuilding their defenses. Sweden will become a "support country" for the advanced ground forces in Finland, which will be joined by French units. Britain, Spain and "even Turkey" have shown interest in participating, General Klasson explains. The brigade's headquarters will be located in Rovaniemi, in northern Finland. The area of responsibility will cover the north of Sweden and Norway. The brigade can number from four to five thousand troops, but the specific contribution of each country has yet to be agreed. This will be an additional burden for France, which is already involved in Romania.
Paris, however, seeks to establish special ties with the Scandinavian countries, and above all with Sweden. Stockholm sent its soldiers to the Sahel as part of Operation Takuba. The desert and the Far North are similar in their severity. "The Far North is as ruthless as the Sahara, albeit in its own way," explains General Klasson. "There is the same lack of infrastructure, lack of resources and low population density. This region is of exceptional strategic importance," the Swedish officer notes. Russia is well aware of this, too.
