Russian defense experts to conduct inspection in Sweden

Editor’s note:  As Sweden prepares to join NATO

MOSCOW, TASS/. A team of Russian inspectors will begin a check on Tuesday of military activities in a designated Swedish region under the 2011 Vienna Document on confidence and security building measures, Sergey Ryzhkov, the head of Russia’s Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, said.

“A Russian team of inspectors plans to conduct a check in a designated territory in Sweden in the period from February 9 through 12 as part of the implementation of the 2011 Vienna Document on confidence and security building measures,” he said. “The inspection is geared to determine the scale of declared military activities or to verify the absence of military activities subject to prior notification within the designated region. The area subject to inspection is up to 15,000 square kilometers,” he said.

Russian inspectors will visit firing ranges and will be briefed by the command of Sweden’s army units about military activities conducted in the designated area and about Vintersol 2016 military drills held in Sweden on February 5 through 11.

The Vienna Document is an agreement between the participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which was intended to implement confidence and security building measures. Its provisions include an annual exchange of military information about forces located in Europe, notifications for risk reduction including consultation about unusual military activities and hazardous incidents, prior notification of certain military activities, observation of certain military activities, exchange of annual calendars, and compliance and verification by inspection and evaluation visits.