Wall Street Journalさんのインスタグラム写真 - (Wall Street JournalInstagram)「Russian aggression is spurring Sweden to rebuild its defenses, with the Cold War back on in the frigid North.⠀ ⠀ With the Kremlin’s foreign policy growing more assertive over the past decade under President Vladimir Putin, the Swedes are bulking up defenses on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Its army expects that in the opening moments of a Russian invasion, airborne soldiers based across the Baltic Sea would likely parachute onto Gotland. Both sides know that whoever controls the island controls naval traffic through the southern Baltic.⠀ ⠀ Russia’s expansive military and political appetites are alarming countries along the former frontiers of the Soviet Union, from Finland to Romania. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has deployed four battle groups—nearly 5,000 troops—to Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In 2018, Norway hosted NATO’s largest military exercise since the collapse of the Soviet Union.⠀ ⠀ Sweden’s response is especially dramatic, overturning decades of its own defense and foreign policy. While the country maintained a careful neutrality between the U.S. and Soviet Union during the Cold War, this time around Stockholm is tightening ties with Washington. This fall, the Swedes rubbed that partnership in Moscow’s face by spotlighting joint U.S.-Swedish commando exercises previously kept secret.⠀ ⠀ “We will never surrender,” said Daniel Martell, sergeant major of Sweden’s Gotland Regiment. “That’s the message we’re sending.”⠀ ⠀ Read more at the link in our bio.⠀ ⠀ 📷: Michael M. Phillips for @wsjphotos」1月11日 4時03分