"Those who want peace must be prepared for war": Sweden to send armed forces to the Baltic Sea for the first time

Sweden's prime minister has declared that his country is neither at war nor at peace, as he announced that Sweden would send armed forces to the Baltic Sea for the first time as part of increased surveillance efforts amid a wave of suspected sabotage by underwater cables.

The country announced it will contribute up to three warships and a surveillance plane to a NATO effort to monitor critical infrastructure and Russia's "shadow fleet" as the alliance tries to protect itself from sabotage of underwater infrastructure.

Speaking at the opening of Sweden's annual three-day Folk och Försvars (People and Defence) conference in Sälen, northern Sweden, Ulf Kristersson also commented on the recent disruptions of the Baltic undersea cables, saying that "hostile intent cannot be ruled out".

Amidst hybrid attacks and wars, Kristersson said: “Sweden is not at war. But there is no peace either."

He added: "True peace requires freedom and the absence of serious conflicts between countries. But we and our neighbors are exposed to hybrid attacks, carried out not with robots and soldiers, but with computers, money, disinformation and the risk of sabotage. Those who want peace must be prepared for war."

It is reported that at a later press conference, Kristersson said that Sweden would send an ASC 890 reconnaissance aircraft and up to three warships to the Baltic Sea, writes the Guardian, the Telegraph reports.

"This is the first time Sweden has contributed armed forces to our immediate area," he said.

The Swedish prime minister also commented on the investigation into the Eagle S ship, suspected of damaging a cable between Finland and Estonia last month, for which he said "NATO is ready to help".

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Finland, Petteri Orpo, said that the outage had not affected the country's electricity supply.

"Sweden does not jump to conclusions or accuse anyone of sabotage without very strong reasons. The work continues and the National Security Council is constantly updated," said Orpo.

"But we are not naive either. The security situation and the fact that strange things happen from time to time in the Baltic Sea also make us believe that hostile intent cannot be ruled out," he added.

Otherwise, Orpo announced that he will meet with the heads of state and government of the Baltic Sea in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, on Tuesday.

It is reported that Sweden contributes 2.4% of GDP to NATO, a figure that will increase by 2.6% in three years.

Also, spending on civil defense will increase, with the construction of a new national cyber security center. /Telegraph/