NATO or Nevermore! - Baltic Sea 2023

NATO or Nevermore! A scenario by the. Plague / Whiteout Intelligence Welcome to Europe in the summer of 2023! The war in Ukraine is still raging on, with the Ukrainian counteroffensive taking heavy casualties and making only little progress. Finland is a NATO member since spring this year, while the application of Sweden is still blocked by Turkey's president Erdogan. For the upcomming NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on the 11-12 of July, many expect the Scandinavian country to finally become a member of the alliance. In the weeks leading towards the NATO summit, Sweden deployed a battery of RBS 15 Mk4 anti-ship missiles to the strategic important island of Gotland. Accompanied by harsh rethoric of the Swedish prime minister, this move is seen by many as a clear message towards Russia. Once Sweden is part of NATO, the Baltic Sea will be dominated by the forces of the alliance, and long range anti-ship missiles from the island can even block Russian naval traffic in and out of Kaliningrad. Cynics already call the Baltic the "NATO Lake". As a reaction, the Russian Baltic Fleet started a maneuver in international waters east of Gotland. During the night from 4th to 5th July, elements of the Baltic Fleet entered the Strait of Gotland, which divides the island from mainland Sweden, from the North, sailing towards the vital port of Visby. Even though the movements of the Russian vessels were observed closely, many Western naval units in the Baltic region where still recovering from the challenging weeks of the yearly BALTOPS exercise held during the previous month. With Sweden not yet being a member of NATO, and therefore not covered by the collective protection of article 5, they need to find a way to maintain freedom of movement in the Gotland Strait, in order to be able to resupply the island of Gotland through the port of Visby. In case things with the Russians turn hot, they can only hope that the reassurances of loyality and support given by the US and some other