Russian Military To Supply Europe With Gas

On 30-31 October Russian Federal vice premier and defence minister Sergei Ivanov visited Sweden and Norway. Ivanov attended the ongoing “Sammarin-2006″ military and naval exercises currently being held in Swedish waters. Nezavisimaya Gazeta carried a report on Ivanov’s remarks at the press conference which took place in conjunction with the visit. The paper noted that “the aquatoria of the Baltic and the northern seas of Europe are becoming a zone of serious strategic interest to Russia”, and pointed out that

hydrographic vessels of the Baltic fleet will be actively used in the laying of the north European gas pipeline. Their task will be to determine the coordinates of the pipelaying with an accuracy to the metre and to check the quality of the laying with the aid of deep water apparatus…

There can be no doubt that even after the construction of the pipeline is completed, the military and naval forces of the Russian Federation will continue to check it and maintain it. Therefore great importance is attached to military collaboration with the countries of the Baltic, especially as it is planned to create marine outlets to Sweden, Finland, Great Britain and other countries. And the collaboration is being developed. Sergei Ivanov said: “At the beginning of this year bilateral exercises of special forces (spetsnaz) units took place in Sweden - the ‘Snowflake 2006′ operation. Next year similar exercises are planned to take place on Russian territory.”

(hat tip: ML)