(Stockholm) The Swedish Parliament on Tuesday approved by a large majority a defense agreement with the United States, which according to its opponents paves the way for the deployment of nuclear weapons and the installation of permanent American bases in Sweden.
The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA), signed by Stockholm and Washington in December, was approved by 266 of 349 MPs, with 37 voting against and 46 absent.
This agreement is a major development in the defense policy of Sweden, which renounced two centuries of military non-alignment in March by joining NATO.
The agreement signed by Stockholm and Washington in December allows American forces to access 17 Swedish defense bases and store military equipment, weapons and ammunition in the country.
For its critics, the agreement should have stipulated that the presence of nuclear weapons would be prohibited in Sweden. “We want the law to prohibit the entry of nuclear weapons onto Swedish soil,” said Green MP Emma Beginger during the debate in Parliament on Tuesday.
“The government has unfortunately chosen to sign an agreement which does not close the door to nuclear weapons, and the Green party will vote no to this agreement,” she added.
The center-right government of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, supported by the Sweden Democrats (SD, far right), assures for its part that the agreement respects Swedish sovereignty.
“It is very clear that Sweden is a sovereign nation and no country will be able to force Sweden to have nuclear weapons on its soil,” Defense Minister Pal Jonson assured during the debate.
” Foolish ”
To be adopted, the agreement had to be approved by at least three quarters of the voting parliamentarians and by more than half of its 349 elected officials.
With 42 seats, the Greens and the Left Party, who are opposed to the agreement and had voted against NATO membership, could not block the text alone.
In an article in the daily Aftonbladet on Sunday, two deputies from the Left Party judged the agreement “not only naive, but downright insane” and assured that it made Sweden less secure, because “American defense and security policy supports nuclear weapons.
The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, one of the leading critical voices, pointed out that two successive Swedish governments had insisted, during the NATO accession process, that Sweden adopt the same position as its neighbors, Denmark and Norway, on nuclear weapons.
“But unlike the DCA agreements of Norway and Denmark, the Swedish agreement contains no reservations against the introduction or stationing of nuclear weapons in Sweden,” wrote Kerstin Bergea, president of the association, in an article .
Finland, which joined NATO in April 2023, “has a law that prohibits nuclear weapons on Finnish territory and Finland’s DCA agreement mentions this law,” she adds.
Such a mention by Sweden “would strengthen the Nordic region and contribute to a common de-escalation in the face of Russian nuclear weapons”.
Nuclear in wartime?
Sweden’s prime minister sparked debate in May by paving the way for “wartime” nuclear weapons placement.
“In wartime it’s a completely different question, it would completely depend on what happens,” he told public radio SR.
“This is an incredible statement, completely contrary to what Swedes think and what Sweden has stood for for a long time,” wrote the two Left Party parliamentarians.
Mme Bergea believes that it is not certain that Sweden will be able to refuse access or activities of the United States on its territory, if these would violate Swedish law or interests.
“An agreement based solely on trust is not sufficient for issues as important as these,” she said.
For Minister Pal Jonson, “thanks to the DCA, Sweden can benefit from early, rapid and effective military support from the United States in the event of a deterioration in the security situation,” he said. said in a statement in May.