Swedish Parties Split over NATO’s Nuclear Arms on Country’s Soil
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The statement by Sweden’s Supreme Commander Micael Byden, in which he admitted to having no reservations over nuclear weapons on Swedish soil, has resulted in a deep rift between the Nordic country’s politicians.
The Moderates, now in the driver’s seat, want to follow Finland's path over nuclear weapons, whereas the Social Democrats, the main opposition party, are critical.
Despite themselves having submitted the NATO application over “changes in security situation”, the Social Democrats made a specific promise to keep the alliance’s nuclear weapons and permanent bases outside of the country’s borders, which the Moderates, then in opposition, supported, Sputnik reported.
“I want the government to make it clear that the reservations would continue to apply as they had said, otherwise it is very worrying”, Social Democrats foreign policy spokesman Morgan Johansson told Swedish media. “Sweden has said that we would have a reservation that we don’t not want any nuclear weapons on Swedish soil. It was a very important message to the Swedish people this spring and I believe that this message should stand firm”, he added.
The same take on nuclear arms and military bases was shared by Håkan Svenneling, foreign policy spokesperson for the Left Party.
“The fact that (Prime Minister Ulf) Kristersson now embraces the possibility of nuclear weapons on Swedish soil is irresponsible. Nuclear weapons pose risks for Sweden and make the world more insecure. Several NATO countries have exceptions to having nuclear weapons on their soil, and of course Sweden should also have such an exception”, Svenneling told local media.
Earlier, PM Kristersson said Sweden and Finland should take a joint approach, and the Finnish government's draft law on joining NATO was reported to allow the alliance to bring nuclear weapons to Finnish territory. This was later confirmed by Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin who said that Helsinki doesn’t rule out nuclear weapons on its territory. Kristersson was backed by Defense Minister and party mate Pål Jonson, who stressed that Sweden and Finland “started the process hand in hand” and should continue to do so.
The Swedish Defence Research Agency estimated it as unlikely of NATO to place nuclear arms on Finnish or Swedish territory, unless nuclear-armed aircraft or vessels would have to pass through. At the same time it ventured that a no to nuclear weapons would be perceived as “unfortunate defiance toward Russia”.
Finland and Sweden submitted their NATO membership applications in May, three months into the Russia-Ukraine war, abandoning decades of non-alignment. So far, 29 out of 30 NATO members have formally ratified the accession agreements. As of now, both countries are in talks with Turkey to allay concerns over their alleged support of organizations designated as terrorist by Ankara.
Three NATO members currently have nuclear arms (the US, the UK and France). None of these have placed nuclear arms on the territories of new members since the end of the Cold War. Remarkably, Sweden and Finland’s Nordic peers Norway and Denmark limited their involvement in NATO by neither placing nuclear arms, nor receiving conventional forces on their territory in peacetime.
Currently, seven NATO countries have specially certified fighter jets capable of carrying US B61 tactical nuclear bombs deployed in Europe (the US, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Belgium and Greece).
The Kremlin refrained from assessing the risks of deploying nuclear weapons in Scandinavia. Its spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged to wait for “clear wording” before drawing conclusions.
The Russian Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, stressed that in the event nuclear arms are placed, Russia would take adequate measures to increase its border security accordingly.
Earlier, Russia voiced concern about Western rhetoric about the possibility of using nuclear weapons. Sergei Naryshkin, the director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, called it "completely unacceptable".
The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Moscow supports the postulate of the inadmissibility of war between nuclear powers, whereas President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that "those who are trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the wind rose can turn in their direction".
