Sweden puts permanent troops on strategic island near Russia

‘The Swedish military has announced that troops training on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, not far from Russia, will remain there permanently. Officials said “external factors” prompted the order for some 150 soldiers to stay on the island.
“The armed forces [now] … have joint permanent groups and troops on Gotland. Gotland is one of our military strategic areas in Sweden … Gotland needs … to increase their operational capacity, and allow troops to practice and work in the field,” the Swedish Armed Forces cited Supreme Commander Micael Byden as saying on its website.
Byden later told Swedish broadcaster SVT that “external factors in the world have deteriorated over time and it means I have made a decision about a permanent presence and that we put the battle group here earlier.”’
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