STOCKHOLM, November 29. /TASS/. Around 20 ships of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) will patrol the Baltic Sea in accordance with a decision made by its members, Sweden’s Defense Minister Pal Jonson told the SVT television.
"I’m talking about maritime observation. About twenty warships will be involved," he said, adding that the zone of the mission will also include certain regions of Northern Atlantic.
The warships will be deployed "to monitor the security situation and to better defend undersea infrastructure."
The decision was made against the backdrop of "increased threat to critical undersea infrastructure" and its goal is "to send signals to Russia," the TV channel reported.
Sweden will contribute two Visby-class multirole corvettes.
According to a statement, issued by the Swedish government, the decision was made during an online conference of JEF defense ministers on November 28. The mission will take place on December 1015 and "will ensure a security presence, strengthening our common efforts with NATO in the Baltic Sea region."
The JEF is a regional defense union bringing together 10 countries from Northern Europe - the United Kingdom, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Estonia.