The Swedish island of Gotland, located 120 miles southeast of Stockholm and slightly smaller than Rhode Island, is home to around 60,000 people, a thriving local farm scene and one of the world’s northernmost vineyards.

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In the face of the continued threat from Russian President Vladimir Putin, it’s also become one of the world’s most important geopolitical hotspots: For years American and European analysts have warned that the island in the middle of the Baltic Sea would likely play a key role in a broader Russian attack against Europe, with Russia potentially attempting to occupy Gotland to facilitate a larger regional invasion. In March 2022 – just days after Putin invaded Ukraine – Russian fighter jets emphasized the threat by buzzing Gotland airspace.

Now the island will be defended by the collective heft of the world’s biggest military alliance. Last week, Sweden cleared its last hurdle to joining NATO with a vote of approval from Hungary’s parliament. The highly anticipated vote came after more than a year and a half of delays from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a right-wing Putin sympathizer who had served as the last holdout, as well as a last minute visit to Budapest from Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

“Sweden is leaving 200 years of neutrality and military non-alignment behind,” Kristersson said in a press conference following the vote. “We are joining NATO in order to defend what we are and everything we believe in even better.”

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