Russia could test the NATO alliance's unity and its "all-for-one" collective defense commitments in the "relatively near future," Sweden’s Defense Commission has said, sounding the alarm in a fresh report issued Friday.
In the blunt interim report cited by Radio Sweden, the commission made it clear that Moscow's 'aggression' against the West is no longer a distant threat, but that "An armed attack against Sweden or our allies cannot be ruled out."
So far throughout the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fifth year, it has been Baltic countries and the UK being the most out front in terms of claiming that Russia's aims are expansionist - a charge Moscow has vehemently and consistently denied.
But now it seems Sweden is hyping the supposed 'Russia will invade Europe' narrative, long a favored assumption among the more hawkish of European officials.
President Putin himself has denied repeatedly that his ordered 'special military operation' will go beyond Ukraine. While Europe sees Russia aims as based on aggression and going on the offensive, the Kremlin ironically enough sees its actions as fundamentally defensive.
For example, Putin in a fresh address to Russian service members on Friday stated definitely, "It was they who carried out the coup d'etat in Ukraine, which forced us to take the people of Crimea under protection. When they started the war, they started bombing Donetsk using warplanes."
But the Swedish Defense Commission - a coalition of lawmakers and defense experts - has still warned that Europe's security landscape could deteriorate at breakneck speed.
Their prescription is a rapid, hands on and publicly acknowledged overhaul of both military and civil defense rearmament, in effect jumping on the bandwagon, considering the trend among bigger European powers like Germany.
Meanwhile, next door in Finland, Helsinki is keeping a laser focus on the Kremlin's movements. Both aforementioned Nordic countries actually share Arctic, far northern borders with Russia.
Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen told public broadcaster Yle that Russia is actively beefing up its military infrastructure and bolstering boots on the ground near the Finnish border.
"Russia is creating new military units, multiplying troop numbers, as well as building capability so that it can quickly mobilize troops from other parts of Russia," Hakkanen said.
Reports do indicate Russia is actively constructing a new military garrison in Petrozavodsk, right in Finland's backyard.
But Russia in its own right does have serious reason to be concerned given the Western military alliance since the start of the Ukraine war has added these very countries as the newest NATO members. Swedenh joined as the 32nd member on March 7, 2024 and Finland was welcomed by Brussels as the 31st member on April 4, 2023.