Sweden ‘on its toes’ after Russia pledges countermeasures over NATO bid

Sweden is ready to respond to the threat of countermeasures announced by the Russian embassy in Stockholm following the announcement of Sweden’s imminent entry into the alliance, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday.

Moscow made no official comment after the Hungarian parliament voted in favour of Sweden’s NATO bid on Monday, but on Tuesday evening, the Russian embassy in Stockholm stated on Telegram.

Among other things, it said that Russia will take countermeasures of a political and military-technical nature to minimise threats to its national security.

“(Sweden’s) entry into a military alliance hostile to Russia will have negative consequences for stability in Northern Europe and around the Baltic Sea, which remains our common area and will never become a ‘NATO hinterland’, whatever self-righteous statements Sweden’s future ‘NATO relatives’ may make”, the statement said.

“Russia will take countermeasures of a political and military-technical nature to minimise threats to its national security. Their concrete content will depend on the conditions and extent of Sweden’s integration into NATO, including the possible deployment of NATO troops, ammunition and weapons in the country,” the statement added.

For the Swedish prime minister, this reaction was “quite expected”.

“That was also the case when Finland joined NATO,” he said on Wednesday.

When Finland joined the transatlantic alliance last April, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russia’s military leaders that Finland’s accession “creates the risk of a significant expansion of the conflict”, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of an “encroachment on (Russia’s) security and national interests”.

“It is well known that Russia does not like the fact that neither Sweden nor Finland will become NATO members, but it is we who decide our choices,” said Kristersson, adding that “cyber attacks and attempts at influence are already taking place”.

“We are on our toes, we are well equipped, and we see what they are doing,” he added.

Now that the Hungarian parliament has finally voted in favour of Sweden’s NATO application, all that remains is for the country’s president to sign the protocol, but it is unclear when this will happen.

“Only Hungary knows the exact pace of the process, and they have just changed their president. So only Hungary knows the exact dates,” said Kristersson, who remained “confident” it would be soon.

Following the resignation of former Hungarian president Katarina Novak amid a scandal in which she was accused of covering up for a paedophile, the speaker of parliament, László Kövér, is currently acting as interim president.

Under Hungary’s constitution, he could sign the NATO protocol, but according to information obtained by Euractiv, it will most likely be the newly elected president, Tamás Sulyok, who takes office next Tuesday.

(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)