OPEWI in Sweden – Arctic & Baltic Talk

In Engelsberg, Sweden, Rear Admiral (ret.) Juha Vauhkonen, OPEWI board member, touched on the Arctic for the The Ax:son Johnson Institute for Statecraft and Diplomacy

His presentation covered the following:
– the importance of the Baltic Sea and Kola Peninsula area for Russia;
– its efforts to restore its role as an Arctic Superpower;
– Thawing of the North-East Passage, what security challenges it brings along, are we as Europeans ready to counter also China’s growing presence in our close by areas;
– The Russian threat towards the Nordic and Baltic states, NATO, bilateral defence agreements with US, also JEF was mentioned;
– Russian increased intelligence activities in this area, the challenges to counter those activities.

The AJI Intelligence and Security Seminar brings together world leading experts to examine the role of diplomacy, espionage and military power in three of the most pressing challenges facing the international community; the war in Ukraine and geopolitics in Europe; conflict in the Middle East since the attack on Israel October 7 2023, and the rise of China and the changing Indo-Pacific…