Back when this was happening it was big news because the Swedish military didn't really hide they were searching for a submarine in an enclosed bay. In the end

Back when this was happening it was big news because the Swedish military didn't really hide they were searching for a submarine in an enclosed bay. In the end they didn't catch anything, so this could be seen as an embarrassment for them whether or not there really was a sub. The political side is that Sweden is not in NATO, as the electorate sees NATO as too global and too likely to draw the country into remote conflicts or the next world war. Russia is the only remotely plausible military threat in the region, so it's the bogeyman NATO will have to use if it wants to lure Sweden in. This incident will be used to argue the Swedish military is inadequate on its own. On the other hand Russia is testing everyone's military capabilities, e.g. Russian planes routinely skirt US airspace. In the 80's Sweden had lots of similar incidents (as well as confirmed ones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_submarine_incidents http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_submarine_incidents), and those didn't drive Sweden to join NATO. However Swedish society has become a lot less militant since then, abolishing conscription and reducing military budgets, and the memory of Sweden faring splendidly through WWII by staying independent is not as fresh. Eventually Sweden may end up in NATO solely because there isn't political will to do anything else. If Sweden were to join NATO that could have implications for the neighboring Finland, which isn't in NATO either but still has conscription. Finland is the buffer between Sweden and Russia, so it is a given Finland would have an independent Sweden's backing. Another thing is that there's much trade between Finland and Russia, and it's certainly old hat in Finland to fish for benefits by being the one European country that's not overtly russophobic. Finland even has much Russian military equipment. Also, this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B19kYo80yec http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B19kYo80yec , though I don't really remember its backstory. (The RT article linked in the description seems to be reporting on a Swedish site reporting on that video, and the link to the Swedish site is broken.) But the impression I have got is that Russian media is overall unashamed in reporting on Russian interests abroad.