Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist warns that Russia “has other plans if it defeats Ukraine”. The Russian occupation of Ukraine has triggered all security alarms in the Baltic Sea. Therefore, both NATO-protected countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and non-Atlantic Alliance countries (Sweden and Finland) are working to strengthen their national defense against possible attacks by Russia. The reason.
Vladimir PutinFoto: F. Legrand | Dreamstime.com
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Sweden, which has decided to slam the door on NATO to avoid further insecurity in Europe, does not rule out that Russian military expansionism may not be satisfied with the occupation of Ukraine alone. This was acknowledged on Wednesday by the Minister of Defense, Peter Hultqvist, in the “30 minutes” show of the public television SVT.
In his view, Russia intends to attack other former Soviet republics if it emerges victorious from what the Kremlin calls a “special operation” in Ukraine. “I see that Russia has other plans if it defeats Ukraine,” he said before clarifying that “now I don’t think this will happen. I think Ukraine will rise in this case.”
As the three Baltic republics belong to NATO and the EU, the countries most exposed to a possible Russian invasion are Moldova and Georgia. Both states already have Russian soldiers in areas they have not controlled since the early 1990s. In the case of Moldova, the Transnistrian region, and Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In the latter case, Russia recognized the independence of these two Russian-majority territories after the 2008 war against Georgia.
A preamble to his invasion of Ukraine almost three decades later. It is precisely this fear of future aggression from its powerful neighbor that has led the governments of Moldova and Georgia to formally demand their entry into the EU in search of protection against reborn Russian imperialism.
Hultqvist points to the trauma for Russia caused by the fall of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991, which Russian President Vladimir Putin is not tired of describing as “the greatest geostrategic catastrophe of the 20th century.” “It’s still a big problem for the Russian government. I think such ideas are still alive,” the Swedish defense minister said. (Rador)
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