During the early Cold War era , Sweden combined its policy of non-alignment and a low profile in international affairs with a security policy based on strong national defence . The function of the Swedish military was to deter attack . At the same time , the country maintained relatively close informal connections with the Western bloc , especially in the realm of intelligence exchange . In 1952 , a Swedish DC-3 was shot down over the Baltic Sea by a Soviet MiG-15 jet fighter . Later investigations revealed that the plane was actually gathering information for NATO . Another plane , a Catalina search and rescue plane , was sent out a few days later and shot down by the Soviets as well . Prime Minister Olof Palme made an official visit to Cuba during the 1970s , during which he denounced Fulgencio Batista 's government and praised contemporary Cuban and Cambodian revolutionaries in a speech
shot down
Catalina affair
Sweden