The era of Baltic demilitarization was over
Em uma ilha que passou duas décadas sem soldados, fuzileiros navais americanos e forças suecas praticavam em junho de 2022 como defendê-la de uma invasão — um gesto que dizia mais sobre o mundo do que sobre qualquer exercício militar rotineiro. Gotland, no centro do Mar Báltico, voltou a ser o que a história sempre soube que ela era: um ponto de pressão entre potências. A invasão russa da Ucrânia quatro meses antes havia dissolvido décadas de cálculos sobre paz europeia, e a Suécia — junto com a Finlândia — respondia pedindo entrada na OTAN, rearmando ilhas e redesenhando alianças que pareciam fixas há uma geração.
- A invasão russa da Ucrânia em fevereiro de 2022 tornou insustentável a neutralidade militar que a Suécia e a Finlândia mantinham há décadas, forçando uma reavaliação urgente de toda a arquitetura de segurança nórdica.
- Gotland, desmilitarizada no início dos anos 2000 como símbolo de uma Europa mais pacífica, tornou-se o epicentro simbólico dessa reversão — uma ilha com memória de ocupações russas sendo rearmada às pressas.
- Sete mil militares de quatorze países da OTAN, mais Suécia e Finlândia, realizaram desembarques anfíbios e operações aéreas em escala que transformaram o exercício anual Baltops em uma declaração política.
- Suécia e Finlândia formalizaram seus pedidos de adesão à OTAN em maio de 2022, mas a Turquia bloqueou o processo alegando sanções suecas e questões relacionadas à política curda — deixando a integração nórdica suspensa.
- O paradoxo era visível: forças suecas treinavam como membros da OTAN enquanto sua admissão formal permanecia refém do veto de um aliado, tornando Gotland um símbolo tanto da determinação quanto das contradições da aliança.
Em junho de 2022, fuzileiros navais americanos desembarcavam nas praias de Gotland — uma ilha sueca no centro do Mar Báltico que havia sido completamente desmilitarizada no início dos anos 2000. O exercício chamado Baltops reuniu sete mil militares de quatorze países da OTAN, além de Suécia e Finlândia, em operações com quarenta e cinco navios. O que tornava o momento singular não era a rotina do exercício anual, mas o contexto: quatro meses antes, a Rússia havia invadido a Ucrânia.
Gotland não era uma escolha arbitrária. A ilha controla rotas marítimas e corredores aéreos no Báltico, e sua história é pontuada por ocupações estrangeiras — a mais recente delas russa, em 1808. Quando a Rússia anexou a Crimeia em 2014, planejadores militares suecos começaram a reconsiderar a decisão de deixar a ilha desguarnecida. Em 2022, a reconsideração havia se tornado urgência.
No plano diplomático, Suécia e Finlândia formalizaram em maio seus pedidos de adesão à OTAN — uma virada histórica para dois países que haviam mantido não-alinhamento militar por décadas. O secretário-geral Jens Stoltenberg recebeu os pedidos em Bruxelas e os chamou de passo histórico. Mas a Turquia anunciou oposição à entrada da Suécia, citando sanções suecas ao governo turco e disputas ligadas à política curda, bloqueando um processo que parecia inevitável.
Assim, os exercícios em Gotland carregavam uma contradição reveladora: forças suecas treinavam ao lado da OTAN como se já fossem membros, enquanto sua admissão formal permanecia suspensa pelo veto de um aliado. A era da desmilitarização báltica havia terminado — mas a forma exata do novo arranjo de segurança ainda estava por ser negociada.
On an island in the Baltic Sea that had been stripped of military presence for two decades, American marines were practicing how to take it back. Gotland, a Swedish possession roughly the size of Delaware, hosted amphibious landings and aerial operations in June 2022 as part of a NATO exercise called Baltops. The drills involved seven thousand military personnel from fourteen NATO countries, plus Sweden and Finland, operating across forty-five ships. What made the timing significant was not the exercise itself—Baltops runs annually—but the world it was happening in: Russia had invaded Ukraine four months earlier, and the calculus of European security had shifted overnight.
Gotland had not always been a place where NATO powers trained for combat. In the early 2000s, Sweden had demilitarized the island entirely, a choice that reflected a different era of European relations. But in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, Swedish military planners began reconsidering that decision. The island's geography made it strategically valuable: it sits in the middle of the Baltic, controlling sea lanes and air corridors. Its history reinforced the point. The most recent foreign occupation of Gotland had occurred in 1808, when Russian forces moved in and held it briefly. The island had been invaded repeatedly across centuries. Now, with Russian troops massed on Ukraine's border and NATO scrambling to reassure its eastern members, Sweden decided the island needed defending again.
The exercises were one piece of a larger reshaping of Nordic security. In May 2022, both Finland and Sweden had formally submitted applications to join NATO—a historic reversal for two countries that had maintained military non-alignment for decades. The Russian invasion of Ukraine had made that neutrality feel untenable. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary-general, received the applications in Brussels and called them a historic step. But the path forward was not clear. Turkey, a NATO member with significant leverage over alliance decisions, had announced it would oppose Swedish membership. Ankara objected to Swedish sanctions against the Turkish government and had other grievances rooted in Kurdish politics. This meant that even as American and Swedish forces practiced retaking Gotland from a hypothetical invader, the actual process of bringing Sweden into NATO's formal structure remained blocked by one of NATO's own members.
The exercises on Gotland thus represented a paradox: the militarization of a strategic location by forces that were not yet fully integrated into the alliance structure that was supposed to defend it. Sweden and Finland were acting as though they were already NATO members, training alongside NATO forces, while their formal admission remained hostage to Turkish approval. The drills themselves were straightforward military work—marines landing on beaches, establishing positions, practicing the logistics of defending an island against amphibious assault. But they were also a statement: the era of Baltic demilitarization was over, and the region was preparing for a different kind of future.
Citações Notáveis
The application you are presenting is a historic step— Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary-general, on receiving Finland and Sweden's membership applications
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Gotland matter so much that NATO would stage exercises there in the middle of a war?
It's about geography and history colliding. The island sits in the middle of the Baltic, controlling who moves through those waters. If Russia ever wanted to project power westward, Gotland is a natural staging point. Sweden learned that lesson in 1808.
But Sweden had kept it demilitarized for twenty years. What changed?
Crimea changed it. When Russia took Crimea in 2014, it shattered the assumption that European borders were settled. Sweden watched that happen and realized demilitarization was a vulnerability, not a virtue.
So the exercises are about deterrence?
Partly. But they're also about capability. If Sweden is going to defend Gotland, its forces need to know how. And if Sweden is joining NATO, it needs to operate alongside NATO forces. These drills do both things at once.
Except Turkey is blocking Swedish NATO membership. Doesn't that undermine the whole point?
It does, actually. Sweden is training as though it's already in the alliance, but it's not. It's a strange position—acting integrated while remaining outside. That gap is real and it matters.
What does Turkey want?
Ankara objects to Swedish sanctions against Turkey and has concerns about Kurdish groups. It's using its veto power to extract concessions. For Turkey, this is leverage.
So Gotland is remilitarized, but the security architecture that's supposed to protect it is incomplete?
Exactly. The island is being prepared for a war that NATO is supposed to prevent. But NATO itself is fractured over who gets to join it.