''Sweden will join NATO – I am absolutely convinced of that'' -Aspiring Head of Govt Ulf Kristenssen

Ulf Kristersson: ”Sverige kommer gå med i Nato – det är jag helt övertygad om”

Sverige kommer öppna dörren för ett Natomedlemskap efter ett maktskifte i höst, och en Nato-option ska uttalas av en ny M-ledd regering. Det beskedet ger Ulf Kristersson i Expressens partiledarintervju. – Ingen kan säga att S i evig framtid har vetorätt över detta, säger han. Moderaterna...

www.expressen.se

Sweden will open the door to NATO membership after a change of power in the autumn, and a NATO option will be issued by a new M-led government. This message is given by Ulf Kristersson in Expressen's party leader interview.

"No one can say that S will have a veto over this forever," he says.

The Conservatives are also preparing a series of reforms to allow decisions to be made on new nuclear reactors.

"The unique thing now is that we can have a government base and a government that is unequivocal on the issue," he says.

At the same time, Ulf Kristersson does not want to answer which parties will sit in his government, and does not rule out a moderate one-party government after the election.

Three weeks old news but still seems especially relevant in the current circumstances.

Sweden has a proportional electoral system, in which his right-wing coalition sits at about 48% (vs 49%, Left-wing, 3% Others) support according to the latest polling (which occurred in early Feb - it is probable that the Russian invasion may have swayed public opinion).

The election will be held in September, as the coalition stands one seat away from the majority and executive power (174/175, out of 349 total seats).

 

[daftandbarmy]

Finland, too.

That should really piss off Putin, fortunately

Foreign Minister: Finland taking part in Nato virtual summit​

Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said it is important that the opportunity to apply for Nato membership remains available.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) confirmed on Thursday that Finland and Sweden were taking part in Nato's virtual summit about the Ukraine situation on Friday.

"It is important for Finland and Sweden to be involved in the Nato meeting, due to the situation in the Baltic Sea region, for example," Haavisto said.
Haavisto also said it is important that the opportunity to apply for Nato membership remains available.

"We consider it important that Nato continues its open-door policy and that we can apply for membership if we wish," Haavisto said.
Finland and Sweden are currently Nato partners, not members of the military alliance.

Public support for Nato membership in Finland has been generally weak, but as the situation between Russia and Ukraine escalated, there has been increasing interest in joining the alliance.

Ukraine is not a member of Nato, but has a standing offer to join the alliance if it meets certain criteria.

Foreign Minister: Finland taking part in Nato virtual summit

Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said it is important that the opportunity to apply for Nato membership remains available.

yle.fi

 

[TacticalTea]

Finland, too.

That should really piss off Putin, fortunately

Foreign Minister: Finland taking part in Nato virtual summit​

Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said it is important that the opportunity to apply for Nato membership remains available.

Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) confirmed on Thursday that Finland and Sweden were taking part in Nato's virtual summit about the Ukraine situation on Friday.

"It is important for Finland and Sweden to be involved in the Nato meeting, due to the situation in the Baltic Sea region, for example," Haavisto said.
Haavisto also said it is important that the opportunity to apply for Nato membership remains available.

"We consider it important that Nato continues its open-door policy and that we can apply for membership if we wish," Haavisto said.
Finland and Sweden are currently Nato partners, not members of the military alliance.

Public support for Nato membership in Finland has been generally weak, but as the situation between Russia and Ukraine escalated, there has been increasing interest in joining the alliance.

Ukraine is not a member of Nato, but has a standing offer to join the alliance if it meets certain criteria.

Foreign Minister: Finland taking part in Nato virtual summit

Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said it is important that the opportunity to apply for Nato membership remains available.

yle.fi

Not quite there, sadly!

They're only asserting their right to choose (NATO option), "showing interest" and cooperating, and I was unable to assess whether the Right had credible chances for their election, which will probably come only next year (2023).

Whereas in Sweden's case, there's a concrete path to membership being laid.

 

[dimsum]

Update:

Sweden ends neutrality, joins Finland in seeking NATO berth

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden's prime minister announced Monday that Sweden will join Finland in seeking NATO membership in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a historic shift that comes after more than 200 years of military nonalignment in the Nordic country.

apnews.com

 

[OldSolduer]

Well we do get a number of very good NHLers from those two. Sign them up.

 

[TacticalTea]

Words on Turkey, from today: As Finland, Sweden move to join NATO, Turkey says it will veto bid - National | Globalnews.ca

Most disturbingly:

At a news conference, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Sweden and Finland should not bother sending delegations to Ankara to persuade Turkey to support for their bids.

A considerably harsher stance than what I had read about until now. Posturing? Pressuring NATO to facilitate Turkey's internal repression? Or a bona fide, categoric denial?

 

[TacticalTea]

But! Also from today: Canada could be among the first countries to ratify Sweden, Finland membership in NATO, says Joly

"That being said, it's such an important issue, I've reached out already to my opposition critics from the other parties to seek their support and they all agree. So in Canada, it's a non-partisan issue."

United parliament.
And,

Erdogan didn't threaten outright to veto membership and officials and analysts say they believe he won't stand in their way.

Who speaks the truth? Was this latter article's author just not up to date with Erdogan's latest press conference?

At any rate,

Joly would not discuss her message to her Turkish counterpart on Monday but said she believes there are ways to address Turkey's concerns.

I am inclined to believe this.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Words on Turkey, from today: As Finland, Sweden move to join NATO, Turkey says it will veto bid - National | Globalnews.ca

Most disturbingly:


A considerably harsher stance than what I had read about until now. Posturing? Pressuring NATO to facilitate Turkey's internal repression? Or a bona fide, categoric denial?

They want the F-35 etc, but have been naughty little Turks....

Will Ukraine crisis help Turkey dodge Western arms embargoes?​

Drawing on the role of Turkish drones in bolstering Ukraine’s defense, Erdogan has urged NATO partners to lift restrictions on military sales to Turkey. But US sanctions remain a tough row to hoe.

The United States expelled Turkey from the F-35 joint strike fighter program in 2019 over its acquisition of the Russian S-400 air defense systems. Arms sales to Turkey were effectively halted in light of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The Nagorno-Karabakh war in 2020, in which Turkey backed Azerbaijan against Armenia, prompted scrutiny of the Bayraktar drones. Turkey’s request to upgrade its existing F-16 fleet and buy new F-16s has been snagged by Congress. The United States has refused to approve the sale of MK41 vertical launching systems and rolling airframe missiles, which Turkey planned to use respectively on its locally made ISTIF-class frigates and ADA-class corvettes. A 2018 deal for Turkey’s sale of 30 T129 ATAK helicopters to Pakistan has fallen through due to US reluctance to issue export licenses for the US-British-made engine. The sale of the same helicopter to the Philippines was greenlit, however, and Turkey delivered the first two of six helicopters earlier this month.

Canada has slapped restrictions targeting the Bayraktar drones, which, for Erdogan, have become a matter of pride. Citing improper use in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, Canada halted exports of engines and optics technology used in the drones.

The Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden have imposed full arms embargoes on Turkey since 2019 over its military interventions in Syria. France has placed restrictions on an array of defense and aviation sub-systems, and Italy and Britain have barred the sale of certain products. Germany has suspended plans to upgrade Turkey’s Leopard-2 tanks and raised bureaucratic hurdles to the sale of other equipment. Turkey’s 2019 military incursion into northeastern Syria led also to the suspension of talks with French-Italian manufacturer Eurosam for co-production of the SAMP/T air defense system.


Read more: Will Ukraine crisis help Turkey dodge Western arms embargoes?

 

[brihard]

Tough balance to strike there. Turkey is definitely useful for NATO. But they also exist on a geographic frontier that the rest of NATO doesn't, and they have conflicts there that do spill over their borders.

NATO may have to do some hard math on whether Sweden + Finland are more valuable to the alliance and its treaty objectives than Turkey, but also all the other ways Turkey could exercise leverage. Conversely, Turkey needs to mull over whether it's in its interests to play hardball on this, given how weak and ineffective the other viable option for alignment has proven.

 

[TacticalTea]

The Czech Republic, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden have imposed full arms embargoes on Turkey since 2019 over its military interventions in Syria. France has placed restrictions on an array of defense and aviation sub-systems, and Italy and Britain have barred the sale of certain products. Germany has suspended plans to upgrade Turkey’s Leopard-2 tanks and raised bureaucratic hurdles to the sale of other equipment. Turkey’s 2019 military incursion into northeastern Syria led also to the suspension of talks with French-Italian manufacturer Eurosam for co-production of the SAMP/T air defense system.

Oof, yeah, hard to sell greater cooperation to Turkey when that's what we've given them.

We have our reasons of course, but so do they.

 

[TacticalTea]

Hungary to Ratify NATO Expansion by Mid-December, Minister Says

Hungary will approve the expansion the the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to include Finland and Sweden by mid-December at the latest, Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyas said at a government briefing on Saturday.

www.bloomberg.com

It's not the first positive signal, but definitely the strongest one so far by Hungary. A sigh of relief on my end.

 

[KevinB]

Hungary to Ratify NATO Expansion by Mid-December, Minister Says

Hungary will approve the expansion the the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to include Finland and Sweden by mid-December at the latest, Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyas said at a government briefing on Saturday.

www.bloomberg.com

It's not the first positive signal, but definitely the strongest one so far by Hungary. A sigh of relief on my end.

Hungary, I believe, was told very clearly that both Sweden and Finland have more to offer NATO than Hungary remaining in it, and given a choice between them, Hungary would be ejected…

 

[daftandbarmy]

Hungary, I believe, was told very clearly that both Sweden and Finland have more to offer NATO than Hungary remaining in it, and given a choice between them, Hungary would be ejected…

We all need to put our Budapest Foot Forward!

Putting our Budapest foot forward – pounding the pavement at the NATO Run in Hungary

More than 3,000 runners recently gathered in Budapest for the NATO Run, an annual event bringing together soldiers and civilians from Allied and partner countries. Amid the ultra-fit troops and experienced runners, two humble editors of the NATO website tried their best to keep up – and enjoyed...

www.nato.int

 

[FJAG]

This from the UK Daily Mail.

Turkey backs down on blocking Sweden's bid to join NATO

Turkey's Erdogan said he would urge Turkish MPs to ratify Sweden's application to join the 31-member mutual defense club 'as soon as possible'.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[GK .Dundas]

This from the UK Daily Mail.

I wonder what this is going to cost us .
The Turks have been playing the game of nations longer the most of the current crop of nations have existed.

 

[FJAG]

I wonder what this is going to cost us .
The Turks have been playing the game of nations longer the most of the current crop of nations have existed.

So far only some F-16s. Wait for it...

 

[KevinB]

So far only some F-16s. Wait for it...

EU membership relook. That won’t get far unless Erdo decides that an authoritarian government isn’t what is needed…

 

[Kirkhill]

I wonder what this is going to cost us .
The Turks have been playing the game of nations longer the most of the current crop of nations have existed.

You have that right.

The history of Ankara can be traced back to the Bronze Age Hatti civilization, which was succeeded in the 2nd millennium BC by the Hittites, in the 10th century BC by the Phrygians, and later by the Lydians, Persians, Macedonians, Galatians, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks, and Ottomans.

History of Ankara - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[daftandbarmy]

I wonder what this is going to cost us .
The Turks have been playing the game of nations longer the most of the current crop of nations have existed.

Greece be like....

 

[Kirkhill]

Meanwhile NATO is splitting

23 to 31 in favour of bringing Ukraine into the fold.

8 opposed.

Germany is one and the US appears to be another.

Ukraine's national press service Ukrinform reported that 23 of 31 alliance nations signed documents formalizing their support of Ukraine's membership. According to Kyiv, these countries include Portugal, Canada, Romania and Moldova, among others.

The Telegraph cited sources that Germany will block Ukraine's accession, fearing that this might lead to war with Russia. U.S. President Joe Biden has also said that Ukraine is "not ready" for membership and both countries want to avoid invoking Article 5. NATO allies agreed to remove the Membership Action Plan (MAP) from Ukraine's path toward accession, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on July 10.

Retired chief of UK military: As international partners deliberate, Ukrainians pay the price

Ukraine has been forced to do battle with less equipment than it needs because of the caution of its international partners, said Mark Carleton-Smith, the U.K.’s former top military commander, during his visit to Kyiv. Carleton-Smith, who was in the country as part of the Warsaw International...

kyivindependent.com