Europe



Swedish peace activists who argue that military hardware is not the best way to deter Russian submarines have launched their own underwater defence installation: a gay-themed sonar system.

Fire tourists upset Swedish residents.

Swedish flags. Image by Guillaume Baviere / CC BY 2.0

In a publicity stunt dubbed Operation The Singing Sailor, the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society placed a sonar device in the Stockholm archipelago sending out a Morse code message saying: “This way if you are gay”.

The device also features a neon sign with a sailor waving a white flag and the words Welcome To Sweden – Gay Since 1944 – the year Sweden legalised homosexuality. The group is urging the Swedish government to resist calls for re-armament after a week-long hunt in October for a suspected Russian submarine, saying “love and peace across boundaries is more important than ever”.

(Press Association)