Sweden, historically neutral, officially joined NATO in March 2024 as its 32nd member, boosting the alliance’s northern defenses with its advanced military and strategic geography. Central to Sweden’s contribution is Gotland — a heavily fortified island in the Baltic Sea long seen as a key military asset, according to Peter Suciu of The National Interest. Often described as an “unsinkable aircraft carrier,” Gotland’s position between Sweden, Latvia, and Russia’s Kaliningrad territory makes it vital for regional security. Sweden has renewed its military presence there, reactivating the Gotland Regiment and conducting major joint exercises with Poland, Britain, and the U.S. to strengthen island defenses against potential Russian aggression or hybrid warfare threats in the Baltic region. Suciu writes:

Historically neutral Nordic nation Sweden joined NATO in March 2024, becoming the alliance’s 32nd member and significantly increasing NATO’s capabilities. In addition to providing a sophisticated and well-equipped military, which is specialized for operations in the Nordic and Baltic regions, it is noted for its small yet effective fleet of diesel-electric submarines, which were designed for the unique shallow waters of the Baltic Sea.

Sweden also brought to NATO something that could be crucial in a war with Russia: the heavily fortified island of Gotland. Since the Iron Age, that small island has been seen as a strategic location, leading to the construction of towns, a hillfort, and even Visborg Castle. […]

“It’s basically like a huge aircraft carrier in the middle of the Baltic,” Quartermaster Oscar Hannus of the Swedish Navy told the Kyiv Post as Swedish and Polish military officers prepared for a recent Operation Gotland Sentry exercise. […]

The exercises also come six months after Swedish authorities carried out an investigation into the suspected sabotage of a water pump that provided drinking water to residents and military personnel on Gotland. There has been speculation that the region’s increased acts of sabotage, which included the cutting of the 728-mile-long undersea C-Lion 1 fiber optic cable between Finland and Germany, are part of an ongoing Russian hybrid warfare campaign.

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