Swedish Anti-War Organization Slams NATO’s ‘Undemocratic’ Accession Process
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Swedish anti-war organization Svenska Freds believes that the process of the country’s accession to NATO was undemocratic, the organization’s official Gabriella Irsten said in an interview with the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.
"Many are upset, wondering what they can do. People feel that decisions were made without them," she said.
"Even those who support NATO can see that this process lacks democratic roots. The Swedish people were deprived of the opportunity to hold a referendum," Irsten added, TASS reported.
"The armed forces made it clear that there was no direct threat to Sweden," the Svenska Freds official stressed, adding that the process had been conducted too quickly.
"I think that many things here are related to the (upcoming September 11) elections. On March 8, (Swedish Prime Minister) Magdalena Andersson said that NATO membership would only worsen the situation but just two months later, they filed to join," Irsten emphasized.
According to her, NATO cannot be viewed as a guarantor of peace. "Wars are still going on in the world. And it certainly did not stop NATO countries from engaging in war, only, perhaps, not on their own territory," Irsted said.
Prime Ministers Pekka Haavisto of Finland and Ann Linde of Sweden along with the envoys of 30 NATO member states, signed protocols for the two Nordic countries to join the US-led military bloc on July 5. Finland and Sweden will be able to enter NATO after all of the alliance’s members ratify the documents.
On May 18, Helsinki and Stockholm submitted their applications to join the alliance but the process was blocked by Turkey who demanded that the two countries extradite those suspected of terrorism and being involved in the 2016 coup to Ankara, and bans on weapons supplies to Turkey should be lifted.
Talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took place in Madrid on June 28. As a result, a memorandum was signed making it possible for Sweden and Finland to join NATO.
