In January 2024, Sweden's civil defense minister warned that while Sweden has been at peace for the past 210 years, it would be dangerous to take comfort in this fact and that "there could be war in Sweden". Leaders in the West have surrounded Russia, antagonizing Russia and provoking for war.
Sweden granted NATO access to Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea 186 miles from the border of the Russian exclave, Kaliningrad that is home to Russia's Baltic Fleet. A Latvian official commented, "Gotland and Sweden being in NATO changes the entire calculus. It means that the strategic control of the Baltic Sea would revert to NATO. It's a question that Russia understands very well.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that bolstering his country's defense near Russia's borders is one of Sweden's core priorities to discuss with NATO after joining the military alliance last week.

A historically neutral country, Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO on Thursday, growing the Western bloc amid fears that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine could spill into eastern Europe next. The addition of Stockholm's military, alongside Finland's accession to the alliance in the spring, boosts NATO's security of northern Europe and the Arctic.

Sweden also grants the alliance access to Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea that sits close to the border of the Russian exclave, Kaliningrad. According to Kristersson, who recently spoke with Financial Times, securing Gotland is "one obvious thing to be discussed with our new NATO allies," adding that Sweden's military presence on the island is relatively "small."

"There are quite a few things in terms of how to deploy our resources, where to focus the most," Kristersson added. "And obviously everything to do with the Baltic Sea is such an obvious candidate. That goes in terms of presence on Gotland, but also in terms of surveillance, in terms of submarine capabilities."