The peaceful archipelago that may take up arms

Once regarded as a "beacon of peace" and Europe's "most cooperative islands", an archipelago in the Baltic Sea is now debating whether to reverse its demilitarised status.

In the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine , Finland's undefended Åland Islands have become Nato's "weak spot" against Vladimir Putin , said The Times .

'Existential threat'

The self-governing archipelago, "stretching across the middle of the Baltic Sea", officially belongs to Finland but its residents speak Swedish, noted Bloomberg . The location is "covered in timber fishing huts and sauna shacks", said The Telegraph and until recently it was often praised for its serenity, which offers an "unhurried" existence for islanders.

"Surrounded by sea and forest", the 6,700 islands are "idyllic", said the BBC in 2021, praising them for a "peacefulness" that "runs deeper" than their setting but now that tranquillity is under threat.

The islanders' "unhurried existence" has been "complicated" by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said The Times. Now, said Bloomberg, there are "growing concerns" over the "crucial maritime gateway" and potential threats to shipping routes worth $160 billion annually.

With Finland now a member of NATO and Moscow "jostling to assert its rights in the region", some say the "unusual set up" has become the Nordic country's "greatest vulnerability", offering Russia an "open field" should it ever decide to invade.

These fears have already transformed the lives of coastguards. Previously, their role involved "inspecting pleasure boats and perhaps fishing out the odd drunk tourist", said The Telegraph, but now they're "on alert" for potential Russian spies or saboteurs. "Everything has become more intense," one told the broadsheet.

Mikael Boden, the head of the Swedish armed forces, believes Putin has "both eyes" on the Swedish island of Gotland and "probably...the Åland Islands as well". A recent joint statement by British and Baltic diplomats said that Russia may in a few years "pivot" from the war in Ukraine to an “existential” invasion of the Baltic Sea. This has opened up a debate over whether the islands should change their status.

Peculiar vulnerability

The Åland Islands have been demilitarised since 1856. Undefended, the islands, which control access to the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia, represent a "peculiar vulnerability" in the Baltic, said The Times.

Some are calling for the islands to be remilitarised as Sweden did with Gotland Island in 2014, re-introducing permanent troops, adding tanks and reactivating air defence systems.

"The demilitarised status only benefits Russia," Pekka Toveri, a Finnish MEP for the governing National Coalition Party and a former major general in the Finnish Defence Forces, told The Times. "Why would we do anything that benefits Russia in the current day and time?"

Some are describing the Åland Islands as the Baltics' "Achilles heel", said The Telegraph, "pointing out that whoever controls them can block maritime access to the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland".

But dismantling layers of international demilitarisation agreements would be "complex", said Bloomberg. Polls suggest the move would be unpopular among most of the 30,000 residents and is "unlikely for now".

There is "little appetite" for "sullying the red cliffs, sauna resorts and pine forests" with "military bases or air defence batteries", agreed The Telegraph.

So instead, the focus is on "vigilance and contingency planning" and a government minister said the country has prepared for a range of scenarios including an attempt by Russia to take control of the Baltic Sea, to more limited operations.

Islanders "don't have to be afraid", said Jörgen Pettersson, the speaker of the lagting, the Åland Islands parliament in the capital of Mariehamn. "We don't really see the point of being nervous", he added, as "we managed storms and we managed unforeseen things that have happened over the years".

Given Finland's expertise in "some of the trickiest waters to navigate in Europe", a Russian attack on the islands "would be unlikely to end well", according to Jyri Lavikainen, a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs and army reservist. "We'd be happy to help them commit suicide," he said.