Trouble in Europe's QUIET CORNER - Gene H Hogberg - June 1984

Gene H Hogberg

Mysterious objects prowl in Sweden's coastal waters. A spy scandal shakes Norway. NATO's clouded future threatens to upset the sensitive "Nordic balance" and the region's future security. The Nordic world made up of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland- comprises, what has often been called the "quiet corner" of Europe. This corner, however, is very much in the news these days and for good reason. Earlier this year, the Swedish navy trapped a suspected foreign submarine near its top-secret Karlskrona naval base. The incident recalled the time in October 1981 when the Soviet nuclear- armed submarine the U-137 ran aground in the same general area. This time, however, "frogmen like persons," according to the Swedish government, set foot on the island of Almoe and were driven off by the Swedish army using machine guns and hand grenades. The action marked the first time since the Russo-Swedish war of 1809 that live ammunition was fired at foreign soldiers encroaching on Swedish soil. - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library