The World - News from Dec. 22, 1987

Sweden warned that it will sink foreign submarines violating its territorial waters instead of trying to force them to the surface. Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson gave notice of the tougher policy in a radio interview. “This means that blood will flow,” he said, “but that is the violating power’s problem, not Sweden’s. We will not hesitate even if human lives will be lost. Our borders are holy. We will defend them.” Sweden is plagued each year by reported sightings of foreign submarines, but it has never managed to catch one. Past incursions have been blamed on the Soviet Union.