Spies and Subs Loom in Swedish Memory as Russia Pushes Pipeline

Bloomberg
Niklas Magnusson
February 1, 2007

A Russian pipeline plan is stirring up old animosities in Sweden.

OAO Gazprom, Russia's natural gas export
monopoly, plans to increase supplies to Western
Europe by building a 743-mile (1,195-kilometer),
$8 billion pipeline under the Baltic Sea by 2010.
Its proposal includes a maintenance platform off
the Swedish island of Gotland, a flashpoint for
armed conflict between the two countries for 850 years.

Many Gotland residents view the platform as an
outpost for Russian spies and its military, and
want their government to block it. For Swedes,
defeated by Russia in 1721 in a battle that
brought down the curtain on the Swedish Empire
and ended its control of the Baltic Sea, the
Gazprom plan revives that struggle in a modern, economic context.

``It's never good to have the Russians too
close,'' said Roland Petterson, a Gotland
fisherman who has trawled the Baltic for two
decades. ``I'm annoyed that they can draw a line
across the Baltic Sea and that Sweden doesn't do
anything about most of it being in the Swedish economic zone.''

Gotland, the size of Rhode Island, has 58,000
inhabitants. It lies 56 miles east of mainland
Sweden and about 155 miles northwest of the
Russian port of Kaliningrad. The island was last
taken by Russia in 1809. News media in Gotland
have stoked fears of a renewed invasion, with
letters and editorials demanding that the pipeline be blocked.

David and Goliath

``We're a little David against a mighty
Goliath,'' said Stefaan de Maecker, 30, a member
of Gotland's local Green Party. ``The government
must say no to the project now.''

The pipeline, to be built with German utility
E.ON AG and chemicals company BASF AG, would
transport as much as 55 billion cubic meters of
gas a year, equal to six months of demand in the
U.K. Europe depends on Russia for a quarter of its gas needs.

Gazprom intends to build the pipeline to avoid
transit through countries such as Belarus and
Ukraine. Because the pipeline traverses Sweden's
economic zone, the Swedish government may be able
to demand a redesign or new route.

While Sweden can't stop the pipeline under
international law, it may be able to block
installations along the route, said Bo Huldt, a
professor at the Swedish National Defense College.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, during a Jan.
12 visit to Germany, said his government would
respond after receiving a final proposal later this year.

``It will be very important to see whether the
environmental effects will be negative and if we
could do something about that,'' he said.

Littered With Mines

Russian President Vladimir Putin, at an Oct. 11
meeting in Dresden, Germany, said his country
would heed ``all environmental requirements.''
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder heads
the project's supervisory board.

``We do not plan to use the pipeline for any
purposes other than gas transportation,'' Irina
Vasilyeva, a spokeswoman for the project, said in
an e-mailed response to questions. ``We shall
observe all environmental, maritime and legal
requirements, both national and international,
during planning, construction, and operation of the pipeline.''

Laying the pipeline on the seabed may unsettle an
area littered with mines left from two world
wars, Petterson said. The pipeline also may
disrupt fish-breeding grounds, and the security
zones around the link would limit fishing,
reducing the catch by as much as half, he said.

The pipeline may also deter tourists. More than
700,000 people visited Gotland in 2005, bringing
1.5 billion kronor ($216 million) to the local
economy, according to the tourism board.

``The pipeline sounds scary, as it's going to be
so close,'' said Gunilla Gustavsson, a resident
of Faaroe, off Gotland's northern tip. She moved
there after her first visit to the island 35 years ago.

Old Hostilities

Putin in October said the Russian Navy would
guard the pipeline. That planned foray into
Swedish waters has stirred memories of past
military confrontations. Sweden and Russia began
battling for control of the Baltic Sea in the
12th century and have since fought more than 10 wars.

Sweden gained territories along the eastern shore
of the Baltic Sea in the 17th century, laying the
foundation for the Swedish Empire that crumbled
in 1721. During World War II, in which Sweden was
neutral, the island was a sanctuary for thousands
of people fleeing the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

In 1981, the Soviet nuclear submarine U-137
beached outside the Karlskrona naval base in
southern Sweden, a reminder of Russia's
undercover activities in Swedish waters.

``I understand that people, especially the old
ones, are worried,'' said Oerjan Samuelsson, 49,
who heads a team of 33 at Gotland's coast guard
station in Slite. ``It's a heritage we carry with us.''

Some locals say Sweden lacks the military clout
to check Russia's presence. The government in
2004 scaled back defense spending and left
Gotland with only 70 army personnel. Russia, by
contrast, is upgrading its Baltic fleet by adding submarines.

``I don't want Russian military personnel the
distance of a pair of binoculars away from
Gotland,'' said Rolf Nilsson, Gotland's
representative in the Swedish parliament.

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