On Monday, Sweden launched its largest military maneuvers in over 25 years, bringing together 26,000 soldiers from 14 countries, including the United

States, the United Kingdom, and France.

The exercises are scheduled to run until May 11 and will take place on land, air, and sea across southern and northern Sweden, with a focus on the strategically important island of Gotland. While Finland recently became the 31st member of NATO, Sweden's bid remains blocked due to opposition from Ankara and Budapest.

The country's refusal to extradite suspects linked to a failed 2016 coup attempt and a Kurdish independence struggle has angered Turkey. As a non-member of NATO, Sweden is not covered by the alliance's Article 5 on collective defense, which could make it a strategic interest for Russia in the event of a conflict. Photo by Brindefalk from Karlskrona, Sweden, Wikimedia commons.