Sweden’s social democratic government today announced the launch of an internal debate on the country’s strategic position and the possibility of joining NATO, a scenario that has remained open since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Swedish prime minister and leader of the ruling party, Magdalena Andersen, said in late March that she “does not exclude” running a candidate for the Western Military Alliance, after initially expressing that she wanted her country out of the coalition. The military likes to be outside.
The Social Democratic Party, historically opposed to joining NATO, ratified a proposal to this effect at its last Congress.
Anderson said he was ready to change his strategy five months before the election, when the issue would be a central issue.
Party number two, Tobias Boudin, indicated that the debate is open to all members of the party and would be a “wider discussion than the question of yes or no to NATO membership”.
The “negotiations on security policy” should end before summer (winter in the Northern Hemisphere, Brazil), the social-democratic leader indicated.
A change of direction by Sweden’s main party would open the way for the country to join the Atlantic Alliance, at a time when Finland is also preparing to make a decision before the summer.
