Submarine victory for Sweden

STOCKHOLM (Reuter) - Sweden has won a telling concession from Russia after a 12-year war of words over submarines, with Moscow agreeing for the first time that there have been violations of Swedish territorial waters.

The collapse of the former Soviet Union led to a sharp decrease in submarine activity in Swedish waters, but the incidents resumed last June, and Swedish defence experts speculated that rogue elements of the ex-Soviet Baltic fleet were now acting independently.

Until the Prime Minister, Carl Bildt, and President Boris Yeltsin signed a joint declaration last week, Moscow had scathingly referred to Swedish charges of underwater intrusions as 'the periscope syndrome'. Although Russia stopped short of admitting that submarines from bases of the former Soviet Baltic fleet were responsible, Mr Yeltsin's acknowledgment was seen in Sweden as a breakthrough in the dispute.

Since the early 1980s Sweden conducted numerous hunts for alleged submarine intruders in its territorial waters, but never managed to flush one to the surface.