Sweden Eyes Russia While Holding Its Own War Games

Sweden considers itself a neutral country. Better known for participating in peacekeeping missions, its military has been largely passive of late when it comes to self-defense. But as tensions rise with a revanchist Russia, the Nordic nation has found itself moving in a new direction: preparing for the possibility of armed conflict.

Last month, tens of thousands of troops took part in an exercise held throughout Sweden. Aurora 17, one of the country’s biggest military drills in decades, involved soldiers from nonaligned neighbor Finland, the U.S., and newer NATO countries including Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The Swedish exercise commenced just as a massive joint military drill involving Russia and Belarus was concluding to the east of those three Baltic nations.