Every autumn, a mysterious submarine floats near the shores of Sweden. I’m probably already starting the fifth or sixth text with this sentence. Nobody sees this submarine, but everyone knows for sure that it is. And that she is Russian. This goes on for almost 40 years. On October 27, 1981, the Soviet submarine C-363 ran aground right next to the Swedish naval base Karlskrona, where it was at this time that new-type torpedoes were tested. The Swedes removed the submarine from the stones and released it back home.
But since the above-mentioned naval base was located deep inside Sweden (the coast of which consists of many islands separated by straits), and was also completely secret and guarded accordingly, the phantom pains of the Soviet submarine that despised all these secrets and so far. And used by the Swedish military as an effective stimulant in approving the defense budget. That is why every autumn the ghost of a Russian submarine pops up in the skerries somewhere near Stockholm.
This tradition is so firmly rooted that it began to spread to other areas of Swedish political life. For example, the parliamentary election campaign, which, judging by my personal observations, never stops. The current convocation of parliament was elected less than a year ago, but the whole of Stockholm is hung with political advertisements.
Here and smiling black people under the slogan "The Future of Europe." Here and sarcastic antitramp "Make Europe a moderate again." Here and the struggle for the environment (for deeply industrial Sweden, I must admit, this is a rather urgent topic), for the rights of women and sexual minorities. Rainbow flags hang on the facades next to the flags of the Scandinavian countries and the EU. It is even a little sad that ordinary heterosexual people still do not have their own flag.
And in the context of all these political posters and agitation points placed on Swedish streets, various political scientists, experts and departments constantly make statements. And these statements, of course, are devoted, if not to the mysterious Russian submarine itself, then at least its projections onto Swedish political life.
The expert of the Swedish Institute of Defense Studies Jonas Kjellen said that Russia is unable to "keep up with the development of military technologies of the West." The head of the counterintelligence unit of the country's security police, Daniel Stenling, believes that at present Russia does not pose a military threat. The Swedish party-parliamentary commission in its report states that Russia will continue to strengthen its role on the world stage in the years 2021-2025.
And therefore, Sweden and the EU countries should maintain in force the sanctions against Russia, “as long as there are grounds for this.” But at the same time it is necessary to maintain diplomatic and political contacts with Russia.
This concentration of the Scandinavian country on Russia, with which it does not even have common borders, can be explained in at least two ways. Firstly, it is, of course, a historical complex. Bronze Karl XII in the Royal Garden of Stockholm is still pointing towards Russia. Which he wanted to conquer. And, like many others, I could not. In the streets of the Swedish capital, hundreds, if not thousands of tourists from St. Petersburg, built on the former Swedish land, are walking. It was Russia that became the stumbling block, stumbling over that near Poltava, Sweden ceased to be the main force in Europe. And he healed his inner life.
And secondly, the constant focus on Russia is already a modern complex. Sweden is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. This is not very obvious at once, but it is worth spending there only a few days, as you understand that even Moscow with all its acquired magnificence is technically inferior to Stockholm in almost everything. In the 15-million Moscow there is no six-tier metro station with more than 40 exits. And in the 900 thousandth Stockholm there is such a station. But is a normal Swede happy to live in all this magnificence? Hardly.
I understand, of course, that I enter here on the unsteady path of journalistic generalizations. But Sweden, having lost the war to Russia, as well as Germany, which had lost the war to Russia, focused on themselves, for many decades (and even centuries) built their own solid, diversified, real economy. They work from morning to evening, and only on Friday can they afford a little rest. Especially difficult in Sweden, where there is a state monopoly on the trade in alcohol (wine is sold only in specialized stores, where you have to get up in the electronic line to the person who will give you the right one). A shot of vodka at a bar costs about € 13.
And these people are looking at Russia, which, although it won in the military sense, but lost outright in the 20th century in the humanitarian sense. Russia, whose economy rests on money from oil and gas, for which equipment manufactured in Germany and Sweden has been bought. And the people in which they live in their own pleasure, laughing at all this European Social Democratic nonsense.
Russians look down upon Europeans, and Europeans accept it humbly, because they understand: Russians are right. Russians know how to live without all this Lutheran self-sacrifice for the welfare of future generations. Here and now. And where does the conventional Volvo come from - you made it yourself or bought it with money from oil and gas, in the end it’s not so important.
And in such a situation, the concentration of the political agenda in Russia is practically no different from the concentration of our political agenda in Ukraine. We turn a blind eye to our own problems, replacing them with "but look how they are there." Swedes do the same. And instead of thinking about how you will give 60% of your own salary for taxes (which will go to the maintenance of not a dash of migrants from Africa), it’s better to think about a mysterious Russian submarine.
From which all the troubles.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.