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Sweden Rebukes Russia: Joining NATO Is Up To Us
- By The Financial District
- Jan 9, 2022
- 2 min read
Ahead of a series of talks next week between Russian officials and NATO, Sweden’s top diplomat underscored that Moscow has no right to dictate which countries can apply to join the trans-Atlantic military alliance.
Photo Insert: Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde
Sweden, along with neighboring Finland, is not a member of the security alliance. Although Sweden has no current plans to join NATO, it has deepened its cooperation with the bloc in recent years. Russia’s recent threats to Ukraine have spurred conversations about regional security in northern Europe and the Baltic states.
“It should not be up to Russia if we could join or if we could not join NATO,” said Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde in an interview with Amy Mackinnon of Foreign Policy on Friday, Jan. 6.
Linde described Moscow’s demands to curtail NATO’s activity as “astonishing,” noting they would have profound consequences for Sweden’s security if they were accepted. US and European officials are set to meet with their Russian counterparts in a variety of high-stakes meetings as the West looks for diplomatic off-ramps amid fears of a renewed Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow has demanded a sweeping series of security guarantees, including a halt to any eastward expansion of the bloc and limits on its deployments to recent member states.
A readout of a call between US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his counterparts from the Nordic countries noted “participants reaffirmed the right of each country to choose its alliances.”
Linde’s comments follow similar remarks made by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in his New Year’s address: “Finland’s room to maneuver and freedom of choice also include the possibility of military alignment and applying for NATO membership, should we ourselves so decide.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova warned in late December 2021 that NATO accession for either Finland or Sweden, which maintained policies of neutrality during the Cold War, would entail “serious military and political consequences, which would require an adequate response on Russia’s part.”
