Russian confrontation needs to be dealt with, says Swedish FM

Russia has significantly worsened Europe and Sweden’s security policy, and its confrontational approach must be dealt with, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström noted in his foreign policy statement to the Swedish parliament on the occasion of Sweden’s recent accession to NATO.

To mark Sweden’s accession to NATO earlier this month, the country’s government presented a special foreign policy statement to the Swedish parliament on Wednesday.

“Russia has chosen a confrontational approach to the EU and NATO, and this confrontation needs to be addressed,” Billström said in his speech before lawmakers.

“This is an epochal event for our country and represents a profound and immediate change in Sweden’s foreign and security policy,” he added.

Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While Finland became a member in April 2023, Sweden became NATO’s 32nd member earlier this month, ending more than two centuries of military non-alignment.

“Sweden’s NATO membership is a direct consequence of this illegal, unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression,” the foreign minister added.

According to Billström, Russia’s actions have significantly worsened the security policy situation in Europe and Sweden’s neighbourhood for a long time to come.

“Together with its partners and allies, Sweden must pursue a coherent, long-term and strategic policy to counteract Russia’s power expansion and opportunities to do damage.”, he said, insisting on the need for the country to support Ukraine.

Swedish debates

The Swedish government believes that NATO membership raises the threshold for armed conflict in the Baltic region, and in his speech to parliament, Billström mentioned that although NATO is a defensive alliance, the country is prepared to use armed force if necessary to defend itself, its population, democracy, freedom and common values.

Sweden’s accession to NATO is an important symbolic change, officially marking the end of over 200 years of military non-alignment and neutrality.

Therefore, a recurring issue in public discourse is the possibility of Swedish conscripts being sent to external theatres of action in the event of conflicts involving NATO. Sweden has partial conscription for both men and women, with those selected undergoing basic military training.

According to Billström, the role of conscripts in NATO’s collective defence is being analysed.

“The government is endeavouring to achieve broad political agreement on the issue,” Billström also said.

The Left and Green opposition parties opposed Sweden’s accession to NATO, and even within the broad cross-party majority in favour of the country joining the alliance, the issue of potentially sending conscripts to war zones remains controversial.

However, Billström highlighted one point of agreement between the political parties, namely nuclear weapons, arguing that Sweden had joined NATO without reservations, but, like the other Nordic countries, there was no reason to have nuclear weapons or permanent bases on Swedish territory in peacetime.

(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)