Comment by mopsi
19 hours ago
Not only is this realistic, but the affected countries are taking remarkable steps to counter it. Sweden withdrew its military presence from Gotland in 2005 and disbanded the Gotland Regiment. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden re-established the regiment, returned tanks and IFVs and radars and air defense systems to Gotland, and is building up a brigade-strength task force to defend the island by 2027.
Are the UK or the US prepositioning forces in Gibraltar and Alaska to repel an invasion, renovating bunkers and shelters, and making preparations to evacuate the civilian population?
Interestingly you are not replying to my points. You are only repeating what the media tell the public.
Now, it is perfectly norm0al for Sweden to secure its territory. But the narrative and policies go way beyond this and, again, my take is that Russia is just a pretext to implement those by overblowing the threat.
If anything, the media is downplaying the preparations to calm the population.
Russia is not a pretext, but the reason for the preparations. Russian actions, from invading Georgia in 2008 to annexing Crimea in 2014 and launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, to the current wave of sabotage, have fundamentally changed security assessments. These aren't hypothetical threats being "overblown". They're real, documented acts of aggression that have forced countries to reassess their defenses. The policies are a direct response to that reality, not an excuse manufactured to justify them.
Dismissing that as mere PR is incredibly shallow. If the Swedish government wanted a publicity stunt, they would stage a photo op, not expand conscription and form new brigades.