Ewa Steinberg: Magdalena Anderson’s First Security Crisis

On December 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded “immediate talks” with the United States and NATO about “security guarantees” for Russia. Putin demanded promises from NATO not to accept new members and Major constraints on how NATO defends its members in Eastern Europe.

At the same time, Russia has amassed about 100,000 soldiers near the border with Ukraine, a country that, like Sweden, cooperates militarily with NATO without being a member.

Putin’s demands will affect Sweden to the fullest if they become a reality. IslandCommander Michael Biden said on DNAn interview on the thirteenth that the basis of Swedish security policy will then be destroyed. Among other things, Swedish defense exercises and cooperation with other countries will be suspended.

Despite the dramatic Russian demands It took a long time before the Swedish prime minister commented on the matter.

The President of Finland and the Prime Minister of the Social Democrats distanced themselves from both in New Year’s greetings. Both stated that Finland reserves the right to apply for NATO membership if it so wishes.

Magdalena Anderson took the magazine out of her mouth only on the thirteenth day, after a conversation with the President of Finland. She followed this up with a brief statement after her conversation with the NATO Secretary General on Friday.

The Swedish Magdalena Andersson does not express herself like her Finnish colleagues, which led to the disappointment of the bourgeois opposition.

It did not mention Russia or NATO when it said, after talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, that all countries have the right to freely choose their own security arrangements.

Magdalena Anderson did not write anything about membership when she thanked NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for the good dialogue.

On the other hand, I mentioned Not the word freedom of the alliance. Her formal thanks to the NATO Secretary General included instead her thanks for the deepening partnership between Sweden and NATO.

The partnership is a continuation of the defense decision of the Riksdag and in the line of the government’s security policy. Sweden renounces its membership in NATO, with its influence and obligations. Instead, you act militarily in every conceivable way as if you were a member.

Moderates, Center Party, Liberals and Christian Democrats Everyone is calling for the government to call for talks At the highest political level in relation to Swedish security policy.

It goes against the Swedish political tradition of the previous social-democratic and bourgeois government led by Friedrich Reinfeldt not to discuss security policy with other parliamentary parties. Previous governments considered it important that Sweden speak with one voice. It seems that this is no longer the case, despite the fact that this is a minority government with weak support in the Swedish Parliament.

The question is where the two sides will land if they do talk to each other about responding to Putin’s demands. There is still no majority to apply for membership in NATO, neither in the Swedish parliament nor in public opinion, a new DN/Ipsos poll shows.