February 7, 2016 (BBC News Europe) No-one
in Sweden believes that Russia would launch an unprovoked attack on a country
outside the former Soviet Union, but Moscow is seen as increasingly
unpredictable. "Did we understand, before it happened, the annexation of Crimea? Did we understand that they were very close to
starting something in Eastern Ukraine?" says Michael Byden, Supreme
Commander of Sweden's armed forces.
"This is one of the great challenges
right now: what are they up to and why do they do it?" Some analysts
believe Russia's
behaviour has more to do with shoring up Vladimir Putin's domestic support than
probing Swedish defences. But whatever the rationale, it's already prompted the
Swedish government to boost defence spending and shift the military's focus to
regional security after two decades in which international operations took
precedence.
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