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Tensions are rising between Sweden and Russia
The Scandinavian country has made startling claims that it should be ready for “armed battle against a qualified opponent” after more then 200 years of peace.
Leaked documents quoting Army chief Anders Brannstrom before a meeting with Swedish defense management said war could hit the country in a few years.
He said: "The security situation we are currently experiencing leads me to the conclusion that in the course of a few years we might be at war."
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Swedish authorities have siad that they have been threatened by Russian jets in their airspace
The army is now making long-term plans for battle possibly between 2016-2020 and must be ready for a major opponent.
We are well equipped and we will be granted funding which will improve our situation
Micael Bydén, Chief of Defence in Sweden
Brannstrom added: “For us in the Army it is about building up all the force we can muster to enforce political decisions.”
The army chief said “everyone in the army and all those who support us” have to unite to face a possible opposition.
This is the first time in recent years that a leading representative of the armed services has said Sweden is on the verge of war.
Parliament chairman of the armed services, Allan Widman, said the country had “experienced more aggression from Russia” as it is not a NATO member.
He also pointed out a conflict with Russia could evolve based on the economical climate.
Wildman added: "It is my assessment that the situation is so serious that even Sweden, which has had more than 200 years of peace, must mentally prepare for the possibility of an armed conflict, a conflict involving us."
Russia has on several occasion tested the Scandinavian countries defences by sending out fighter jets near their borders.
Mr Widman said pressure is starting to build on Russian leader Vladimir Putin “politically”.
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Sweden says it is ready to defend itself
Vladimir Putin's funniest pictures
Fri, January 8, 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin in pictures.
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Vladimir Putin practices with the Russian Judo team [AP]
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Vladimir Putin practices with the Russian Judo team [AP]
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F1 Russian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton 'sprays' Russian President Vladimir Putin with champagne on the winners podium [Getty Images]
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Russian President Putin leaves the winners podium while Mercedes winner Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel celebrate after the Russian F1 Grand Prix in Sochi [REUTERS]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulates Britain's Lewis Hamilton on the winners podium after the F1 Russian Grand Prix [EPA]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin applauds F1 Russian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton on the winners podium in Sochi [Getty Images]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends an ice hockey match of the Night Hockey League in Sochi, Russia [Getty Images]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on the ice during the Night Hockey league in Sochi, Russia [Getty Images]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a trophy during the Night Hockey League in Sochi, Russia [Getty Images]
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Vladimir Putin sits for a photo with Pavel Bure, Alexei Kasatonov, Gennady Timchenko, Sergei Shoigu and Vyacheslav 'Slava' Fetisov during the Night Hockey League in Sochi, Russia [Getty Images]
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin feeds a horse during his vacation in the Republic of Tyva, Russia [EPA]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin submerges on board C-Explorer 3 bathyscaphe into the waters of the Black Sea outside Sevastopol [AP]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin submerges on board C-Explorer 3 bathyscaphe into the waters of the Black Sea outside Sevastopol [AFP/Getty Images]
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Russian President Putin attends his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow [REUTERS]
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Russin President Vladimir Putin plays with his dogs 'Buffy' and 'Yume' at his countryside residence Novo-Ogariovo [EPA]
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin swims while traveling in the mountains of the Siberian Tyva [AP]
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Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (foreground L) takes part in a judo training session at the [AFP/Getty Images]
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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain gestures on the podium after winning as Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, applauds on the podium during the Formula One Russian Grand Prix [AP]
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Russian President Putin meets with women to congratulate them on International Women's Day at the Kremlin in Moscow [REUTERS]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin [Photo credit MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/]
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The Queen receives the President-elect of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, at Windsor Castle in 2000 [PA]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin armwrestles with local Yulia Beganova during celebrations of the Tatar national holiday Sabantui in Kazan [AP]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with US President Barack Obama (R), while welcoming participants arriving for the first working session of G20 summit in St. Petersburg in 2013 [EPA]
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Russian President Putin addresses during a joint news conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Orban in Budapest [REUTERS]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and the commander of the Western Military District Anatoly Sidorov, right, walk upon arrival to watch military exercise near St.Petersburg [AP]
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, US President Barack Obama stand for the 'family' group photograph at the G8 venue of Lough Erne in 2013 [Getty Images]
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center, sings during a charity concert in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2010 [AP]
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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, center, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pose while examining a new Russian passenger plane the Sukhoi Superjet 100 [AP]
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia [AFP/Getty Images]
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Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair holds a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G8 Summit in Germany in 2007 [PA]
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US President George W. Bush (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R), both wearing a Vietnamese 'ao dai' silk tunic in Vietnam [AFP/Getty Images]
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Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, front third right, and the Duke of Edinburgh, front second left, sit for a group photo with G8 leaders at the Gleneagles Hotel, near Auchterarder, Scotland in 2005 [AP]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and U.S. President George W. Bush, donning traditional Chinese silk coats in Shanghai [AP]
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President Vladimir Putin, wearing a blue helmet and an oxygen mask, sits in Su-27 fighter jet after his flight into the war zone in Chechnya in 2000 [AP]
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US President Bill Clinton (R) appears with Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) in a bilateral meeting at the Assara Guest House in 2000 [EPA]
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Tony Blair with Russian President Vladimir Putin outside Number 10 Downing Street in 2000 [DX]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin executes a throw on a Japanese Judo student during a visit to a Sports Center in Gushikawa, Okinawa [AP]
He added: "The question is what he will do in that situation: if he will apologise and withdraw from Crimea or whether he has other intentions."
Chief of Defence in Sweden Micael Bydén insisted there are currently no military threats against the Scandinavian country.
He said: "We have a well-trained army.
"We are well equipped and we will be granted funding which will improve our situation."
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