Sweden Starts New Round of Russian Submarine Propaganda For Defense Spending Increase & To Join NATO

Sweden’s military confirmed that a citizen spotted an unknown submarine off the coast of Stockholm on October 31. The government did not confirm the submarine’s nationality, but authorities believe it belonged to Russia.

“We were informed of a sighting and considered it trustworthy—we had a unit in the area and sent it to investigate,” said military spokesman Philip Simon. “We received a photograph but do not plan to release it.”

The incident occurred two weeks after Swedish officials investigated the presence of another submarine near Stockholm. The military launched the HMS Malmö between Lidingö and Nacka, which is two miles from Stockholm’s city center.

“It look like a black submarine conning tower,” a source told Swedish paper Dagens Nyheter. “You can also see several over vessels which normally travel along the shipping channel, such as the Finland ferries. You don’t go this far in towards Stockholm for the fun of it. This information points to a serious intrusion towards central Stockholm.”

Simon said the military did not find the submarine.

“The information in Dagens Nyheter is correct,” he claimed. “This event is classified as a possible submarine. That we opted to investigate further reflects both the credibility of the person who made the sighting and the fact that we had both vessels and ground forces in the vicinity, which meant we could rapidly reach the site. Despite that, we got no result.”

In November, the military released pictures of a sonar scan that showed “sub-sea tracks left behind by a mini-submarine.” Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist told the media the submarine forced him to search for a new security plan.

“I think that there is a new security situation in the Baltic Sea… so we have a new environment and we have to handle that,” he said.

The Svenska Dagbladet newspaper “reported that encrypted radio traffic was intercepted from a transmitter in Kanholmsfjärden, an inlet in Stockholm’s archipelago. The receiver was in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.” The information gives weight to the Swedes’ belief the submarine belonged to Russia, but the military refused to confirm or deny the suspicions.

The Swedish Civil Contingencies agency released a poll that said “Swedish concern about Russia has risen sharply following the sightings, with 73 percent of Swedes expressing worries about developments in 2014, up from 45 percent in 2013.” The poll also showed that 48 percent of Swedes favored to join NATO, which is the first time the pro-NATO crowd outnumbered the opposition.

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By Tom SULLIVANStockholm (AFP) Jan 11, 2015

Sweden’s military on Sunday confirmed a second sighting in October of what appeared to have been a submarine in waters near Stockholm city centre, not long after a search had been launched for a suspected Russian submarine off the coast.

In November the Swedish military released images of tracks on the sea bed and an apparent submarine periscope which it said proved that “a mini submarine violated Swedish territory” between October 17 and October 24 and that “at least one vessel” was involved.

However, despite widespread speculation that the submarine was Russian, the military never identified its nationality.

On Sunday, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter revealed that a member of the public also photographed what appeared to be a submarine tower on October 31 about two miles (3 kilometres) from the city centre, close to busy ferry traffic lanes.

“We were informed of a sighting and considered it trustworthy — we had a unit in the area and sent it to investigate,” military spokesman Philip Simon told AFP.

“We received a photograph but do not plan to release it.”

A Corvette, the HMS Malmo, carried out a search and concluded that it was a “possible submarine” but no other details of the previously unknown hunt have been made public.

“It looks like a black submarine tower. You can also see several other ships that normally use this shipping route,” a military source who had seen the photo told the paper.

“You don’t go this far in towards Stockholm for the fun of it. This information points to a serious intrusion towards central Stockholm.”

The week-long search after the previous sighting involved battleships, minesweepers, helicopters and more than 200 troops scouring an area 30 to 60 kilometres (20 to 40 miles) from the capital.

It had stirred up memories of Cold War cat-and-mouse games with suspected Soviet submarines along Sweden’s long, rugged coastline.

The submarine hunt and a series of alleged airspace violations by Russian jets over the last year have led to increasing debate about Sweden’s military capability and to calls for the non-aligned country to consider closer NATO ties.

An opinion poll published Sunday by the state Civil Contingencies Agency Sunday found that 73 percent of Swedes were concerned about developments in Russia compared to 45 percent a year earlier.

For the first time the annual poll found more Swedes were in favour of NATO membership (48 percent) compared to those opposed (35 percent).