The secret war against Sweden
Date | October 27, 1981 - 1988 |
---|---|
Location | Sweden |
Perpetrators | NATO |
Exposed by | Ola Tunander |
Interest of | Lars Borgnäs |
During the 1980s a large number of submarines were spotted in Swedish territorial waters. While the Soviet Union was blamed, the long series of highly visible incidents was in reality part of a NATO black operation in collaboration with sections of the Swedish military high command, to change public opinion in Sweden and embarrass the government under Olof Palme, which was not informed.
Ola Tunander attributes the majority of these incursions to be of NATO origin:[1][2]
Following the stranding of a Soviet Whiskey-class submarine in 1981 on the Swedish archipelago, a series of massive submarine intrusions took place within Swedish waters. However, the evidence for these appears to have been manipulated or simply invented. Classified documents and interviews point to covert Western, rather than Soviet activity. This is backed up by former US Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, who stated that Western "testing" operations were carried out regularly in Swedish waters with Swedish cooperation. Royal Navy submarine captains have also admitted to top-secret operations.
References
- ↑ Ola Tunander. "Some Remarks on the US/UK Submarine Deception In Swedish Waters in the 1980s" (PDF). International Peace Research Institute, Oslo. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- ↑ Ola Tunander (24 September 2004). The secret war against Sweden: US and British submarine deception in the 1980s. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-7146-5322-8. Retrieved 10 November 2010.