Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson expressed his openness to deploying nuclear weapons in Sweden in times of war, as critics call for their ban on the country’s soil, which recently joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The Swedish parliament will vote in June on the bilateral defense cooperation agreement with the United States, allowing Americans access to Swedish military bases and storage of equipment and weapons.
Sweden ended its policy of military non-alignment, which it adopted for 200 years, by joining NATO in March.
Many non-governmental organizations, including the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, which advocates for peace, have called on the government to include a ban on the deployment of nuclear weapons on Swedish territory in this agreement.
The government has repeatedly stated that such a step is unnecessary, citing broad consensus on nuclear weapons in Sweden, as well as a parliamentary decision banning nuclear weapons in times of peace.
However, the Swedish prime minister believes that the situation should be assessed differently in times of war.
He told public radio that in times of war, it is entirely different, and it depends on what happens.
He added that in the worst scenarios for democratic countries in our region, they must be able to defend themselves from countries that may threaten us with nuclear weapons.
Kristersson emphasized that such a decision depends on Sweden and not the United States, and Sweden makes decisions related to Swedish territory.
He explained that our goal of joining NATO and our defense is to ensure that this situation is not repeated, and he continued that if Ukraine were a member of NATO, it would not have been attacked by Russia.
The Social Democratic Party, which was in power in Sweden when it applied for membership in May 2022, said at the time that it would seek to express unilateral reservations about the deployment of nuclear weapons and permanent bases on Swedish soil.
Denmark and Norway, both NATO members, have refused to allow the deployment of foreign military bases or nuclear facilities on their territory in times of peace.
