The main islands of the Baltic Sea have been crucial for naval power and dominance of the entire Baltic Sea region, both historically all the way back to the age of the Vikings and today in the context of Russian growing confrontation with the regional member states of the EU and NATO. During the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact dominated the Baltic Sea. Today, the situation is the opposite, with Russia squeezed into the dead-end of the Gulf of Finland, with the military exclave of Kaliningrad acting as an ‘island’ between Poland and Lithuania and aimed to project Russian military power to Baltic Sea and neighboring countries. After Sweden and Finland announced their ambition to join the Alliance, NATO has become the dominant power in the Baltic Sea. It will be able, in the case of war, to maintain Sea Control in the area, and potentially conduct a wide range of operations from the sea, including amphibious landings. Still, it would be vitally important to control the larger islands. Current study aims to analyze and clarify the geographical and military importance of the Baltic Sea main islands – Bornholm, Gotland and Saaremaa.

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