NATO’s hold on the Baltic Sea

When Sweden joins NATO, it will help the alliance

redress its vulnerability in northwest Europe – the
Baltic Sea, a shared waterway with Russia with a
bottleneck for access to ports in eight states
including Germany.

NATO Russia

Norwegian Sea

Marine traffic
density

FINLAND

N O R WAY RUSSIA

SWEDEN
Baltic
ESTONIA
Sea
DENMARK Entrances
to Baltic
L AT V I A

LITHUANIA

GERMANY POLAND BELARUS

Note: Marine Traffic Density based on all vessel positions reported

between January 2015 and February 2021
Sources: Natural Earth; International Monetary Fund’s World
Seaborne Trade monitoring system
Vijdan Mohammad Kawoosa | Reuters, June 22, 2023
: