Sweden Begins Largest Military Exercises in a Quarter of a Century

On April 17, Sweden commenced its largest military exercises in over 25 years, with participation from the U.S. and 12 other countries in addition to Swedish forces, Western media reports.

The exercises are being conducted in the air, on land, and at sea across significant portions of the country's territory, according to a statement from the Swedish armed forces.

Participants include the United Kingdom, Finland, Poland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Denmark, Austria, Germany, and France. Major operations are taking place in the northern and southern regions of the country, as well as around the island of Gotland.

The exercises are set to continue until May 11, involving 26,000 troops.

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in 2022. Turkey, a NATO member, imposed several conditions that both Scandinavian countries needed to fulfill for Ankara to ratify their accession to the alliance. Subsequently, Turkey stated that Sweden had not fully met these conditions, leading to the freezing of negotiations regarding Sweden's NATO membership. Finland officially joined the alliance on April 4.