Sweden, NATO's newest member, ends traditional stance of neutrality

It’s a Swedish island nestled in the heart of the Baltic Sea, only 300 kilometres off the coast of the Russian enclave of Kileningrad. Scotland has always been a strategic location and during the Cold War thousands of troops were stationed here. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Stockholm demilitarized the island but after Vladimir Putin decided to attack Ukraine, Sweden joined NATO. It re established the Gotland Regiment in 2018 and reintroduced military service. Conscripts are now back on the island. In the In the beginning, it’s pretty unusual. Feels a bit weird. Learn to handle weapons, to take care of my staff, and most of all, the driver tank. That’s from the best app, the 20 year old trains on a Leopard 2A modern battle tank worth €5 million and similar to those sent by Sweden to help Ukraine. He admits. They talk about the Russian threat at times. It happens, yeah. But if you think about all the bad stuff, you can’t live a normal life. 200 conscripts, men and women, will be based in Gotland next year. One major challenge is accommodation. So the army is building infrastructures that we’re forbidden to film. The commander of the regiment says the island is crucial to the defence of Sweden and some are watching. Whoever possesses the island from a military perspective can then affect the air movement and the movement on the Baltic Sea as well. So we have different intelligence, showing of course that it’s vital for for Russia, being also a Baltic Sea region nation, to keep control of what the Swedes we are doing on the island and now within a NATO context as well. What kind of intelligence? I can’t go into that. But we we, we have, we have a pretty good picture of what they’re looking at. New conscripts have just arrived on the island. They’re spending their first night in the forest. Tuva and Roxstrom are ready this afternoon. We’re going to learn how to build and build it up and then take it down, build it up, take it down to be fast. When you’re ready, stand in line, go behind that. And in a group many come from Stockholm, like Tom, they’ll be based in Scotland for the next 15 months. It’s a big change, but it feels good. First of all, it’s a fun thing to do and then it’s also feels like something you need to do in this day when the world is changing so rapidly. I think I’m gonna remember this until I die. I’m not used to having this constant stress, not so much sleep. You wake up at like 5, you learn so much new and we have different kinds of test, for example to shoot, you know, shot with the gun. So I always want to defend Sweden. It’s my home country, but it’s also because I wanna develop as a person and a better person. OK, so now you’re going to come with me and we’ll go to the next location. The conscripts will help reinforce army ranks if a war breaks out. Tuva and the others weren’t yet born when the Gotland Peace movement gained traction in the 1980s. These veteran activists have invited the island’s young guard to talk about Sweden joining NATO. We thought when the walk came down, when the Soviet Union collapsed, and when they dismantled nuclear weapons, we thought we had made it. But it wasn’t the case. There’s the morning in there. There’s my name everywhere. Here, Kirsten Blomberg has brought old press cuttings on her movement. India and Bangladesh. Is it Rajiv Gandhi? She reluctantly says her views have slightly changed. So I must say I’m not 100% pacifist and it was not before for me. But now it is a difficult question for me because of Ukraina and because of all my friends there, and I now hold the struggle. I work with the refugees here, doing different activities with the children and so they are all concerned by the issue of nuclear weapons. We shouldn’t have to choose between NATO or Russia, like there is a big in between as well, since I’m a dad and I don’t want my kids to become NATO soldiers. And also, of course, I don’t want to be become a neighbour with American nuclear arms, which I think we have a risk of happening right now. The point of view once widely shared in the country. Ten years ago most Swedes were against joining NATO. It’s now the opposite, with over 60% of the people in favour, according to polls. By invading Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has driven Sweden into the arms of NATO.