Baltic Fleet Commander Met with Swedish Naval Chief

09.10.2012 During the visit of Swedish military delegation to Baltic Fleet (BF), Swedish Navy Commander Rear Admiral Jan Thornqvist met with BF Commander Vice Admiral Viktor Kravchuk. The officers discussed issues of bilateral military cooperation.

In particular, the parties talked over coming joint activities in the Baltic Sea, primarily, the bilateral submarine salvage exercise and minesweeping actions aimed at liquidation of mine threat in the Baltic.

In addition, the admirals discussed participation of Russian and Swedish warships in the international anti-piracy campaign near the Horn of Africa.

At the end of the meeting, RADM Jan Thornqvist invited Viktor Kravchuk to pay a reciprocal visit to Stockholm.

It should be noted that mutual visits of Russian and Swedish military delegations and warships have become a good tradition in the recent years.

In Dec 2010, Swedish Navy Commander paid unofficial visit to St. Petersburg and met with BF Commander. In Apr 2011, BF task unit consisting of corvettes Geizer and Zyb under the flag of Baltiysk Naval Base Commander called at Swedish port Karlskrona.

In Sept 2011, delegation of BF marines visited Swedish Navy's 1-st Amphibious Regiment. In Oct 2011, a group of naval officers headed by BF Commander visited Stockholm. The current visit of Swedish delegation is the second in 2012.

Swedish minesweepers HMS Vinga and HMS Ulvön called at BF main base Baltiysk in Aug 2012. The Swedish party was represented by two delegations, crews of the ships and a group of marine officers.