The “Riksdag” (Parliament) has given the green light this afternoon by a large majority to Sweden’s entry into NATO. By 269 votes in favor, 37 against and 43 abstentions, the Nordic country breaks with more than 200 years of non-alignment of the military. Only greens and the Left Party spoke out against it.
With this vote, Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty is approved, as well as a series of legislative changes that will come into force the day the government of the conservative Ulf Kristersson decides.
In the opinion of the Defense Minister, Pal Jonsson, “For the first time, Sweden will enter into defense cooperation with binding guarantees and joint defense planning. It will contribute to greater stability and security in our part of Europe, and it is absolutely necessary.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago forced Stockholm to do a 180-degree turn from its traditional foreign and defense policy and seek the security umbrella of NATO. Sweden jointly with Finland submitted its official application for membership last May. Since then, 28 of the 30 member states of the organization have already ratified their membership, but both Turkey and Hungary resist. The biggest stumbling block is represented by Recep Tayyip Erdoganwhich accuses the Swedish authorities of not extraditing to Ankara a hundred suspected terrorists.
The Swedish government is confident that the accession process will be ready for the NATO summit to be held on July 11 and 12 in Vilnius (Lithuania). “It is obvious that we are going to be able to be members in Vilnius”, assured during the debate the foreign minister,Tobias Billstromnoting the backing of the other 28 member states and the strong support of the US. “The force that we have behind us is so tangible that it is possible to reach such a judgment,” he explained.
From the detractors to the entry into the Atlantic Alliance, Håkan Svennelingthe foreign policy spokesman for the Left Party, considered that “it is problematic to join a military alliance with countries that are not democratic, and where we see daily that democracy is withering.” “Now they are trying to use our application to silence our voice on democracy and human rights”, denounced before the Chamber.
Meanwhile, the Greens criticized the presence of nuclear weapons in the military organization. “NATO’s nuclear alliance is based on the idea of using nuclear weapons as a method of deterrence,” he said. Jacob Risberg. “The Green Party does not believe in that doctrine, but believes the opposite, that this could generate more conflicts.”
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