https://sputnikglobe.com/20220713/sweden-accepts-natos-approach-of-essential-role-of-nuclear-weapons-in-defense-1097252865.html
Sweden Accepts NATO's Approach That Nuclear Weapons are 'Essential' for Defense
Sweden Accepts NATO's Approach That Nuclear Weapons are 'Essential' for Defense
Sputnik International
In applying to join NATO and having to stomach the alliance's views on security and defense, Sweden seems to have abandoned both decades of non-alignment and a... 13.07.2022, Sputnik International
2022-07-13T05:04+0000
2022-07-13T05:04+0000
2022-07-13T07:20+0000
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Sweden has sparked controversy among its citizens by accepting, in a letter asking to be admitted to NATO, the “essential role of nuclear weapons” in the alliance's approach to defense, having previously been a staunch member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.In a letter to NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on 5 July and only now published by broadcaster SVT, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde formally confirmed her government’s “interest in receiving an invitation for Sweden to enter the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949”.Sweden also agreed to contribute its share of NATO's budget set at 1.9 percent, which according to William Alberque at the Institute for Strategic Studies is worth about SEK 700Mln ($66Mln).However, the nuclear arms clause has triggered alarm among NATO critics and those apprehensive about a possible inconsistency between joining NATO and Sweden's historic belief in nuclear disarmament.All plans for a Swedish nuclear weapon were scrapped by 1968, when Sweden signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1972, the last remnants of a plan for nuclear weapons were discontinued when the National Defense Research Institute (FOA) stopped experimenting with plutonium.As recently as 2019, Sweden launched the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament, by which 16 non-nuclear nations sought, among other things, to “diminish the role of nuclear weapons in security policies and doctrines”.“In other words, Sweden is now prepared to take part in the use of nuclear weapons,” tweeted Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.Political maverick and former member of the Left Party Amineh Kakabaveh, whose support was essential in securing the post of prime minister for Sweden's present leader Magdalena Andersson, reminded followers that on 18 May this year, Andersson announced that Sweden, just like Norway and Denmark, would clearly declare it doesn't want either nuclear weapons or permanent NATO bases on its territory and wondered what had caused such a U-turn.In mid-May, three months since the Ukraine conflict began, Finland and Sweden submitted their NATO bids, effectively abandoning decades of non-alignment and citing a shift in the security situation in Europe. Although their bids were initially blocked by Turkey because of Helsinki's and Stockholm's stance over the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliates, which Ankara regards as a terrorist organization and a threat to its national security, the misunderstandings appear to have been resolved, as both the Nordic nation have since been formally invited to the alliance.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220517/swedens-ruling-party-accused-of-giving-in-to-turkeys-demands-by-labelling-pkk-terrorists-1095559522.html
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Sweden Accepts NATO's Approach That Nuclear Weapons are 'Essential' for Defense
05:04 GMT 13.07.2022 (Updated: 07:20 GMT 13.07.2022) In applying to join NATO and having to stomach the alliance's views on security and defense, Sweden seems to have abandoned both decades of non-alignment and a firm commitment to the non-proliferation of nuclear arms, as it previously sought to “diminish the role of nuclear weapons in security policies and doctrines”.
Sweden has sparked controversy among its citizens by accepting, in a letter asking to be admitted to NATO, the “essential role of nuclear weapons” in the alliance's approach to defense, having previously been a staunch member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In a letter to NATO's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on 5 July and only now
published by broadcaster SVT, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde formally confirmed her government’s “interest in receiving an invitation for Sweden to enter the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949”.
“Sweden accepts NATO's approach to security and defense, including the essential role of nuclear weapons,” Linde wrote. She also promised her country would “fully participate in NATO's military structure and collective defense planning processes,” pledging “forces and capabilities for the full range of NATO missions.”
Sweden also agreed to contribute its share of NATO's budget set at 1.9 percent, which according to William Alberque at the Institute for Strategic Studies is worth about SEK 700Mln ($66Mln).
However, the nuclear arms clause has triggered alarm among NATO critics and those apprehensive about a possible inconsistency between joining NATO and Sweden's historic belief in nuclear disarmament.
All plans for a Swedish nuclear weapon were scrapped by 1968, when Sweden signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1972, the last remnants of a plan for nuclear weapons were discontinued when the National Defense Research Institute (FOA) stopped experimenting with plutonium.
As recently as 2019, Sweden launched the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament, by which 16 non-nuclear nations sought, among other things, to “diminish the role of nuclear weapons in security policies and doctrines”.
“In other words, Sweden is now prepared to take part in the use of nuclear weapons,” tweeted Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director of the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
“Sweden will now therefore plan and exercise in committing mass murder of civilians. The use of nuclear weapons is a war crime. Firm commitment to disarmament, they said before the application was submitted,” the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Sweden, which shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, tweeted.
Political maverick and former member of the Left Party Amineh Kakabaveh, whose support was essential in securing the post of prime minister for Sweden's present leader Magdalena Andersson, reminded followers that on 18 May this year, Andersson announced that Sweden, just like Norway and Denmark, would clearly declare it doesn't want either nuclear weapons or permanent NATO bases on its territory and wondered what had caused such a U-turn.
In mid-May, three months since the Ukraine conflict began, Finland and Sweden submitted their NATO bids, effectively abandoning decades of non-alignment and citing a shift in the security situation in Europe. Although their bids were initially blocked by Turkey because of Helsinki's and Stockholm's stance over the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliates, which Ankara regards as a terrorist organization and a threat to its national security, the misunderstandings appear to have been resolved, as both the Nordic nation have since been formally invited to the alliance.
