Swedish PM says country neither at war nor at peace as armed forces enter Baltic

The Swedish prime minister has said that his country is neither at war nor at peace as he announced that Sweden would be sending armed forces into the Baltic sea for the first time as part of increased surveillance efforts amid a spate of suspected sabotage of undersea cables.

The country announced it will contribute up to three warships and a surveillance aircraft to a Nato effort to monitor critical infrastructure and Russia’s “shadow fleet” as the alliance tries to guard against sabotage of underwater infrastructure.

Speaking on the opening day of Sweden’s three-day annual Folk och Försvars (people and defence) conference in Sälen, northern Sweden, Ulf Kristersson also commented on the recent Baltic undersea cable breaks, saying “hostile intent cannot be ruled out”.

Amid hybrid attacks and “proxy wars” – citing Iran’s alleged use of members of Swedish gangs to commit crime – Kristersson said: “Sweden is not at war. But there is no peace either.”

He added: “True peace requires freedom and the absence of serious conflicts between countries. But we and our neighbours are exposed to hybrid attacks, carried out not with robots and soldiers, but with computers, money, disinformation and the risk of sabotage.” Those who want peace, he said, must “be prepared for war.”

In a later press conference he said Sweden would be sending an ASC 890 reconnaissance aircraft and up to three warships. “This is the first time that Sweden has contributed armed forces in our own immediate area,” he said.

Commenting on the investigation into the ship Eagle S, suspected of damaging a cable between Finland and Estonia last month, he said Nato is “ready to help” and that a Swedish submarine rescue ship is on site and has recovered an anchor.

“Sweden does not jump to conclusions or accuse anyone of sabotage without very strong reasons. The work continues and the national security council is updated on an ongoing basis,” he said.

“But we are not naive either. The security situation and the fact that strange things happen time and time again in the Baltic Sea also lead us to believe that hostile intent cannot be ruled out. There is little evidence that a ship would accidentally and without noticing it, drag an anchor with 300 metres of chain for over one hundred kilometres, without understanding that it could cause damage.”

He said he would be meeting heads of state and government of the Baltic Sea in Helsinki in Tuesday. “None of us are making frivolous accusations. But we all take it seriously.”

Domestic support for Sweden’s recent Nato membership was, he said, a sign that “Sweden has changed”. No longer, he said, is Sweden a “blue-eyed idealist on the sidelines”, but instead “a realist in the centre of events.”

Sweden contributes 2.4% of GDP to Nato, the prime minister said, a figure due to grow to 2.6% in three years’ time. Spending on civil defence is due to grow to a total of 37.5bn SEK (£2.74bn) by 2030, with the building of a new national cybersecurity centre under way.

In an interview with the Guardian last month, Sweden’s civil defence minister, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, said more countries should follow Sweden’s example when it comes to war preparedness amid the heightened security threat from Russia, which he said “will be here for a long time to come”.

The escalation of alleged sabotage on the Baltic, he said, means: “We need our authorities to be on their toes.”

Other speakers on Sunday were due to include Magdalena Andersson, former prime minister and leader of the Social Democrats, Maria Malmer Stenergard, the minister of foreign affairs, defence minister Pål Jonson and Bohlin.

On Monday, Nato deputy secretary general, Radmila Šekerinska, will also participate in the conference in an event dedicated to Nato’s vision under new leadership.

Ahead of the conference, Stockholm announced that it would be increasing the pace of its military defence modernisation, amid what it described as “the most serious security situation since the end of the second world war”. It said: “The government notes that an armed attack on Sweden cannot be ruled out.”