Sweden wants peace, king says at NATO ceremony

Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf affirmed his desire for peace during his speech on Monday at the NATO flag-raising ceremony in the Swedish parliament.

The formal flag-raising ceremony, in which NATO’s flag was raised in front of the Swedish parliament, was held on Monday to mark the country’s accession to the NATO alliance. Present alongside Gustaf were Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Commander-in-Chief Micael Bydén, Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlén, and government ministers.

“Sweden threatens no one. Sweden wants peace,” the king said in his speech, adding that the kingdom’s NATO membership marked a new chapter in Swedish history and a new era in security policy.

Finland and Sweden 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.

“Preserving Sweden’s freedom and independence is still our most important goal,” said the king, demonstrating that he does not believe that joining NATO is indicative of a change in the guiding philosophy of Sweden’s foreign and security policy.

Sweden’s accession to NATO would contribute to greater regional stability, he added.

Kristersson, for his part, argued that joining NATO is a major step for Sweden. “This is an epoch-making event, an epoch-making step for our country,” he said during his speech.

Meanwhile, the king’s and prime minister’s speeches were interrupted by anti-NATO chants from people on the other side of the river, protesting against membership and the end of the country’s policy of neutrality, although this is nothing new in Sweden.

Opposition to membership also exists in parliament, where 25% of MPs, including those from the Left Party and the Greens – whose members have opposed Sweden’s NATO membership from the outset – are against such a move.

“We now risk being drawn into other people’s wars and conflicts,” said Left Party lawmaker Håkan Svennelin earlier this month. “And it could be a completely different NATO in 10 years.”

As for the Greens, spokesman Daniel Helldén said his party would have preferred Sweden not to join NATO and called for clear boundaries with the alliance.

“In this situation, we think it is incredibly important that there are no nuclear weapons on Swedish soil and that we simply introduce a ban on nuclear weapons in Sweden,” he said.

Kristersson clarified his position on Sweden’s role in NATO’s nuclear strategy.

“We see no need for Sweden to host permanent bases or nuclear weapons on Swedish soil,” he told a press conference ahead of the Swedish flag-raising ceremony at NATO headquarters in Brussels last week.

His words were echoed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who said there is currently no need to increase the number of NATO allies with nuclear weapons. He also said there were no plans to deploy soldiers in Sweden, as is currently the case in the Baltic states.

(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)