Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said in 2023 that Sweden had gone into “battle-array for war on the Muslim world” by supporting “the criminal”, and that “all Islamic scholars agree that those who desecrate the Koran deserved the most severe punishment”.

As tensions rise, NATO has launched Baltic Sentry 2025 to enhance security and resilience. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has emphasized the need for greater coordination in protecting critical infrastructure from sabotage.

Salwan Momika was set to stand trial over hate incitement charges on Thursday.

For the first time since officially becoming a NATO member in March 2024, Sweden has taken a major step in its international military role. On January 18, 2025, Sweden deployed a mechanized battalion to Latvia,

Salwan Momika’s 2023 burning of the Quran drew ire in the Muslim world. He was killed just before he was set to receive a sentence in Sweden.

Russia is "the main actor" in hybrid attacks on the alliance, said a senior NATO official following a spate of incidents.

Sweden is investigating damage to a data cable linked to Latvia, the latest breach in the Baltic Sea region where European authorities are on high alert.

Swedish authorities have seized a ship over the “aggravated sabotage” of an undersea fibre-optic cable linking Latvia with a strategically important island in Sweden.

Russia and China have stepped up military activity in the Arctic, while NATO states in the region are reporting more acts of sabotage on energy and communications lines. President Donald Trump has recently revived U.

Mads Petersen, owner of Greenland-based startup Arctic Unmanned, sat in a car to keep warm while he tested a small drone at minus 43 degrees Celsius (minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit).

The 23 EU members who also belong to NATO are likely to agree to raise the defence spending target above the current 2% of national output at a June summit of the alliance that will set a new level, European Council President Antonio Costa said.