Sweden's strategic Baltic Sea island of Gotland has turned down a Russian request to rent harbor space after the government warned it could harm the Scandinavian country's defense and political interests, ABC News reported.
In an 11-0 vote, Gotland's technical board declined Dec.15 to allow Russia's energy giant Gazprom to store pipes in the Slite harbor for an undersea natural gas pipeline that will run from Russia to Germany called Nord Stream 2.
"It was with mixed emotions, because we had been working on this deal in which we believe would lift the community," Tommy Gardell, head of the island's technical board, told The Associated Press. He said the deal involved $1.6 million a year in rent.
Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist had said earlier that renting out harbor space on Gotland would "negatively affect Sweden's defense and political interests."