Swedish lawmakers endorse joining NATO
Swedish lawmakers on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of their nation joining NATO, signing off on membership along with the required legislation.
The 349-seat parliament, known as the Riksdag, authorized Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in a 269-37 vote, with 43 lawmakers absent. It was the last required domestic hurdle to Sweden becoming part of the 30-member Western military alliance.
Six of the eight parties represented in the Riksdag were in favor of NATO membership, and the vote that followed a nearly seven-hour debate was seen as a formality.
“Membership in NATO is the best way to safeguard Sweden’s security,” Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said during the deliberations. He called it “a historic event” and “one of the most important security policy decisions ever for our country.”
Speaking of the timetable for Sweden’s possible accession, Billstrom told lawmakers during the debate that “it goes without saying that we will be able to become members in Vilnius,” the Lithuanian capital, where a NATO summit is to be held in July.
“The backing we have is so tangible that I can make that assessment,” he said.
Turkey’s leader says his government will move ahead with ratifying Finland’s application to join NATO, but Sweden’s simultaneous bid remains stalled.
Both Sweden and neighboring Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, abandoning decades of nonalignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Morgan Johansson of the Social Democrats — Sweden’s largest party, which once opposed NATO membership — said that joining the alliance was “about seeking in every situation the solutions that provide maximum security for the people of Sweden.” The party was in power when Sweden applied for membership.
Two NATO countries, Turkey and Hungary, have yet to ratify the Nordic nations’ applications. Admitting new countries requires unanimous approval from existing members.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that his government would move forward with ratifying Finland’s bid, paving the way for the country to join the alliance before Sweden. Erdogan said Sweden still must resolve Turkish concerns that had delayed action on the joint application.
The Turkish government accused both Sweden and Finland of being too soft on groups that it deems to be terrorist organizations, but expressed more reservations about Sweden. Turkey cited demonstrations on the streets of Stockholm by supporters of Kurdish militants.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is urging members Turkey and Hungary to ratify Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
A series of separate demonstrations in Stockholm, including a protest by an anti-Islam activist who burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy, also angered Turkish officials.
“It is problematic to enter a military alliance with countries that are not democratic and where we constantly see democracy shrinking,” Hakan Svenneling of the Left Party said, referring to Turkey and Hungary.
His party and the small environmentalist Green Party both condemned the Russian invasion but were against joining NATO, saying it would mean Sweden was moving a step closer to either hosting nuclear arms or being part of an alliance using such weapons.
The bids of the Nordic neighbors, which are close partners culturally, economically and politically, are historic: Sweden has not been in a military conflict in 200 years, and Finland has remained militarily nonaligned since World War II.
On March 1, Finnish lawmakers approved their country — which borders Russia — joining NATO.
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