Researcher at the Swedish Defense Research Agency Robert Dalshaw believes that the Baltic Sea may become a "sphere of influence" for NATO, since all the countries bordering this sea will become if Sweden and Finland join the alliance, except for Russia, which will certainly become in a weaker site.

In the following, the researcher answers 3 questions in this regard.

What is the impact of Sweden and Finland joining NATO in the Baltic Sea region?

The Baltic Sea will indeed become a sphere of influence for NATO, and the alliance's chances of confining the Russian Navy to its bases will be better than they already are.

In the future, Russian ships leaving the military port of Kronstadt near St Petersburg will pass through the Gulf of Finland and will be surrounded from the north as well as from the south by NATO member states.

In the event of a war, it would be difficult for the Russian Navy to conduct operations above sea level while it may be able to conduct operations under water, but it has very few submarines today and its threat is not great.

Perhaps Russia should adopt a defensive rather than offensive stance.

What is the significance of the "Baltops maneuvers" and their Russian counterpart?

These joint naval exercises - Paltops exercises - between 11 countries, including America, France, Germany and Denmark, as well as Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, as well as Poland, Sweden and Estonia, are more important this year.

The reasons for the enhanced participation this year are due to the war in Ukraine and the candidacy of Sweden and Finland to join NATO.

Some countries have decided to send a larger number of ships to show their support, as the United States, for example, sent an amphibious assault ship called the "Kerceg", a large ship that is especially capable of deploying helicopters.

And I don't think we've seen such a ship in the Baltic Sea.

As for the Russian maneuvers, they are a political and military signal to remind us that they, too, have naval forces. The war in Ukraine showed the weakness of the Russian armed forces, which was surprising.

And I can say that the threat posed by the Russian Navy is much less than it used to be.

What will the accession of Sweden and Finland change for the Baltic states?

This will relieve both countries of their uncertainty, as as long as Sweden is outside the alliance, the Baltic states cannot be sure how Stockholm will act in the event of a crisis.

For example, will Swedish airspace remain open to NATO transport planes coming from the United States or Britain?

And if Sweden is a member of NATO, the Baltic states will feel very reassured.