American strategists have heaved a sigh of relief. Hungary, being the last obstacle after Turkey, has stepped back, granting the go-ahead to Sweden's NATO accession. America’s Bloomberg agency, a key mouthpiece of the Washington establishment, makes no secret of the fact that this entire maneuver of drawing neutral Sweden and Finland into NATO is only targeted against Russia.

First, the United States is seeking weaker Russia in the Arctic, a region of a probable major military conflict over its countless hydrocarbon reserves. Second, the United States is pushing its “expendable” European allies into irritating military skirmishes with Russia, which would end up with large-scale military actions. By the way, French President Macron just threw out a feeler on the matter, saying that Western boots on the ground in Ukraine cannot be ruled out. We are witnessing a whole range of statements, fake news and real military-political moves whose overall goal is to accustom European public sentiment to an “imminent war with Russia.”

The fact of Sweden's final entry into NATO fuels the Western media narrative on Russia's “inevitable assault” against the Baltic states and Finland. "Adding Sweden strengthens the defense of that eastern flank, allowing the alliance to dominate the Baltic Sea region and facilitating the transit of troops and equipment from Norway’s North Sea ports to the east. Sweden’s accession into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization helps bolster Europe’s security amid rising concerns Russia could even target the bloc’s members in the future,” Bloomberg writes, as if implying Russia’s eventual invasion of Finland and Europe as a whole.

Bloomberg notes with unconcealed amusement NATO’s newly-fledged control of most of the Baltic Sea, presenting a relevant map for those weak in geography. “The accession of Sweden to NATO is a boon for the defensive alliance. It completes NATO’s chokehold over the Baltic Sea,” Britain’s The Times rejoices, in turn. This control does already have a specific immediate goal — Kaliningrad. And while Washington is keeping quiet about its plans, the “passionate Baltic guys” cannot but jabber about what they’ve heard from their American curators. Lithuanian Ambassador to Sweden Linas Linkevicius pledged to seize our enclave in the Baltic. "After Sweden joined the alliance, the Baltic Sea became internal to NATO. If Russia dares to challenge the North Atlantic Alliance, Kaliningrad will be the first to be neutralized. Russia's previous false accusations of being surrounded by NATO are now becoming a reality," he wrote on X (former Twitter). This points to Lithuania’s crystal-clear appetite for its neighboring Kaliningrad region.

“The incorporation of Gotland, a Swedish island one hundred miles south of Stockholm, into Nato territory presents a geostrategic nightmare for Putin because it makes a naval blockade of Kaliningrad a reality,” The Times has developed the Lithuanian ambassador’s idea.

The Times has also shed light on yet another "benefits" from Sweden's NATO accession, as it has turned out useful to Ukraine. "The Swedish-made Gripen, a supersonic fighter jet capable of firing a range of guided bombs, air-to-air missiles and anti-ship missiles, has long been seen by defense experts as the aircraft best suited to Ukraine's needs," The Times writes. The Gripen is designed to take off from roads and runways and requires little maintenance between flights, and Ukraine could hide these aircraft to make them less vulnerable to Russian missile attacks, UK’s legacy newspaper goes on to confabulate.

Earlier, Sweden said it would consider transferring the “adaptable” Gripens to Ukraine only after it joins NATO. Now there is an intriguing possibility that Ukraine could receive both the Gripen and the F-16 this summer if Stockholm gives the green light, the trilled Times reports. Two years after President Zelensky first approached the West with a request for the planes, the dream of Ukrainian pilots for modern fighters seems closer than ever, it adds.

Turning things upside down, the outlet says Russia's response to Sweden's entry into NATO remains alarming, recalling words by the Russian embassy in Stockholm that Sweden would become a legitimate target for Russia’s retaliatory measures, including military ones. Nothing strange about that, isn’t it? It is not Russia that is getting close to Sweden — just the other way about.

However, one must understand that Sweden’s 200-year-old “neutrality” has long been mere fiction. This once-traditional image was based on its blank record of initiated direct armed conflicts since the Napoleonic Wars, and neutrality in World Wars I and II. Although, speaking about the Swedish “neutrality” of that time, one should always be mindful of their double standards. During World War II, Sweden armed Nazi Germany, was a major iron ore supplier to Krupp factories, and let Germany use its territory to transfer troops and weapons to occupied Norway.

Until now, Sweden's military "neutrality" has also been quite conditional, though debated by its people for decades, while alternately shifting between latent phases and aggravation. The Swedes brought up the question this way: should the kingdom join NATO or preserve its “neutral” status?

At the same time, even without being a de jure NATO member, Sweden has long before tied itself to the bloc. It was balancing beyond the dilemma of joining or not joining in, but between an actually informal membership and a legally binding act to secure Sweden's membership in the North Atlantic Alliance.

The ongoing full-fledged entry of that country has been utterly natural and expected. When back in early 2022 the Americans started putting a toe in the water as regards membership of then-neutral Sweden and Finland over “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” it became clear that Stockholm and Helsinki ware about to lose neutrality in just a few months.

From now on, Russian missile programs will embrace targets in Swedish territories. Cheers to the Swedes, who calmly dozed for 200 years under the veil of their “neutrality” before having been awakened by a plaintive cry of their American “friends”.