{"id":605695,"date":"2022-04-14T17:02:31","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T17:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=00f21134d2945a105097f254d4f4cf92"},"modified":"2022-04-14T17:02:31","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T17:02:31","slug":"sweden-and-finland-joining-nato-would-escalate-tensions-says-swedish-activist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/04\/14\/sweden-and-finland-joining-nato-would-escalate-tensions-says-swedish-activist\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden and Finland Joining NATO Would Escalate Tensions, Says Swedish Activist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is warning Russia may deploy nuclear weapons to the Baltic region if Sweden and Finland join NATO<\/span>. His comments come one day after the prime ministers of Sweden and Finland spoke together about possibly joining the military alliance \u2014 a move many thought was unthinkable before Russia invaded Ukraine. Agnes Hellstr\u00f6m, president of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, calls the NATO<\/span> debate in Sweden \u201cnarrow,\u201d saying \u201cit\u2019s been the only option presented to us by the media,\u201d and calls the proposed solution a \u201creflex\u201d built up from a \u201cbig amount of fear after the invasion of Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

TRANSCRIPT<\/h2>\n

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.<\/em><\/p>\n

AMY<\/span> GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong> This is Democracy Now!<\/em>, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report<\/em>. I\u2019m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh.<\/p>\n

The former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is warning Russia may deploy nuclear weapons in the Baltic region if Sweden and Finland join NATO<\/span>. Medvedev said, quote, \u201cThere can be no more talk of any nuclear-free status for the Baltic \u2014 the balance must be restored.\u201d His comments come one day after the prime ministers of Sweden and Finland spoke together about the nations possibly joining NATO<\/span>, a move many thought unthinkable before Russia invaded Ukraine. Finland shares an 830-mile border with Russia. This is the Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.<\/p>\n

\n

PRIME<\/span> MINISTER<\/span> SANNA<\/span> MARIN<\/span>:<\/strong> We have deepened our NATO<\/span> partnership until now, hand in hand with Sweden, ever since Russia illegally annexed Crimea. The difference between being a partner and being a member is very clear and will remain so. There is no other way to have security guarantees than under NATO\u2019s deterrence and common defense as guaranteed by NATO\u2019s Article 5.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

AMY<\/span> GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong> The Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson also spoke Wednesday in Stockholm. She is Sweden\u2019s first female prime minister.<\/p>\n

\n

PRIME<\/span> MINISTER<\/span> MAGDALENA<\/span> ANDERSSON<\/span>:<\/strong> We have to analyze the situation to see what is best for Sweden\u2019s security, for the Swedish people, in this new situation. And you shouldn\u2019t rush into that; you should make it very seriously.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

AMY<\/span> GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong> It is the first time there is a Swedish and Finnish prime minister both women. We go now to S\u00e4len in western Sweden, where we\u2019re joined Agnes Hellstr\u00f6m, president of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, the country\u2019s oldest peace group. Some say it\u2019s the oldest in the world, founded in 1883.<\/p>\n

Agnes, welcome to Democracy Now!<\/em> Your response?<\/p>\n

AGNES<\/span> HELLSTR\u00d6M:<\/strong> Thank you.<\/p>\n

AMY<\/span> GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong> I mean, this is an incredible \u2014 even seeing these two women, which is historic, they are standing there, though, saying they want to join this military alliance, NATO<\/span>. If you can respond?<\/p>\n

AGNES<\/span> HELLSTR\u00d6M:<\/strong> Well, the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, we are against the Swedish membership in NATO<\/span>, and that, therefore, I\u2019m, as a feminist, extra sad at the steps we are taking so quickly now towards the membership. And the main reason that we don\u2019t \u2014 we don\u2019t think it would make us safer or the world more secure. It would make us part of a nuclear doctrine, and our possibility to be a voice for democracy, prevention and disarmament would decrease.<\/p>\n

NERMEEN<\/span> SHAIKH<\/span>:<\/strong> And, Agnes, could you talk about whether, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, popular public support for joining NATO<\/span> has increased in Sweden, as it has in Finland, where reportedly recent polls suggest almost 70% of Finns support joining NATO<\/span>?<\/p>\n

AGNES<\/span> HELLSTR\u00d6M:<\/strong> Yeah, yeah. The recent debate in Sweden has been very narrow and pro-NATO<\/span>, I would say. But the polls, they have still \u2014 that\u2019s been made, they still don\u2019t show support from a majority of the people of Sweden. So, I think that it has been growing, the support, but at the same time, it\u2019s been the only option presented to us by the media, more or less. And I think it\u2019s really important, this kind of big decision, that it has to be a wide debate, and it has to be \u2014 the people must be included in this kind of really big change in our policy.<\/p>\n

AMY<\/span> GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong> Agnes Hellstr\u00f6m, for people who aren\u2019t familiar with Sweden\u2019s history, if you can talk about the history of neutrality and why it is so central to Sweden\u2019s identity?<\/p>\n

AGNES<\/span> HELLSTR\u00d6M:<\/strong> Yes. I don\u2019t remember the exact year when we decided on the neutrality policy. And it\u2019s also been abandoned for a more nonaligned policy, military. But it\u2019s been \u2014 well, it\u2019s been a country that had peace for more than 200 years. And a lot to thank has been our choice to be more of a voice for democracy \u2014 diplomacy and for disarmament and to, in the international forum, represent those issues more than to take side or to choose an ally in that kind of way as NATO<\/span> is.<\/p>\n

NERMEEN<\/span> SHAIKH<\/span>:<\/strong> Agnes, as members of \u2014 both Finland and Sweden are, of course, members of the EU, which does grant some kind of protection to both states in the event of any kind of military assault. So, in other words, they do already have some security guarantees. Why then do you think that there is this heightened discussion of NATO<\/span>? What would NATO<\/span> membership enable?<\/p>\n

AGNES<\/span> HELLSTR\u00d6M:<\/strong> Well, I think, in Sweden, as in many countries right now, it\u2019s been a big amount of fear after the invasion of Ukraine. And therefore, it\u2019s like the easiest \u2014 it\u2019s the easiest solution to join a military alliance that would protect you in case of war. But at the same time, war is always devastating, so we have to do everything we can to prevent war, the war spreading or just war starting in other parts of our surroundings. So, I think it\u2019s a reflex that you choose that because it\u2019s the easiest way. But at the same time, we have to use this really wide pallet of choices right now or to solutions to try to get a ceasefire and try to deescalate this conflict. And that\u2019s why I think this analysis that Sweden is going to make, it has to take a lot of time. It\u2019s been being discussed for years in Sweden. And it\u2019s been a majority of the parties of the government \u2014 the parliament have been opposed to NATO<\/span> membership \u2014 well, until recently.<\/p>\n

AMY<\/span> GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong> Agnes, it would take minimally a year for Sweden or Finland to be admitted to NATO<\/span>, if things go as they have in the past, which certainly isn\u2019t happening these days. What do you fear might happen in the interim? And what kind of organizing is going on right now in Sweden in the peace movement? And also, for people to understand, if they think of Sweden, this peaceful nation, it is significant that, you know, here you have the Nobel Peace Prize that started in Sweden, but it is one of the largest per capita exporters of weapons in the world.<\/p>\n

AGNES<\/span> HELLSTR\u00d6M:<\/strong> Yeah, that\u2019s true. And my biggest fear right now is not what would happen if we joined; it would be that we joined. I think it would be a really bad decision, and it should definitely not be made now in this really tense time. I think it would be much better for Sweden not to join. And also, as you said, we are a big arms producer, and we\u2019re also supplying the parties of the war in Yemen with a lot of arms at the moment. So, yeah, the image you have of Sweden is not always what you expected.<\/p>\n

AMY<\/span> GOODMAN<\/span>:<\/strong> Well, Agnes Hellstr\u00f6m, we want to thank you for being with us \u2014 we\u2019ll certainly continue to follow this story \u2014 president of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, speaking to us from Sweden.<\/p>\n

Next up, we go to Lviv, Ukraine, to look at how Russia\u2019s invasion has displaced more than 11 million people, including two-thirds of Ukraine\u2019s children. Stay with us.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Latest - Truthout<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russia’s former president says Russia may deploy nuclear weapons to the Baltic region if Sweden and Finland join NATO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1462,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[212,26656,463,712,24,7269,376,204],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605695"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":605696,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605695\/revisions\/605696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}