Swedish Parliament Passes Defense Agreement With the United States
The U.S. military now has the right to use all 17 Swedish military bases.
On Tuesday night, the Swedish parliament voted through a controversial defense agreement with the United States, granting U.S. military access to Swedish bases all over the country.
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According to the Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA), the U.S. military now has the right to use all 17 Swedish military bases where the former may construct its own buildings on the bases. At the same time, U.S. military vehicles, ships and aircraft may move freely on Swedish territory and may not be boarded or subject to checks without U.S. consent.
The purpose of the agreement, as stated by the Swedish government, is to enable the United States to provide prompt assistance to Sweden in case of a crisis. The agreement is also intended to enhance the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) capacity to defend the Baltic states and Finland.
The Left Party and the Green Party in Sweden’s parliament voted against the agreement in question. Hakan Svenneling, the foreign policy spokesperson for the Left Party, expressed disappointment over the agreement’s passage.
Members of parliament from both parties criticized the government’s handling of the agreement, describing it as not only naive but also foolish, in an op-ed article published in the Swedish daily Aftonbladet.
The Left Party and the Green Party were critical of the agreement’s lack of provisions regarding nuclear weapons, contrasting it with similar agreements in Denmark and Norway.
Sweden currently does not allow nuclear weapons to be deployed on Swedish soil in peacetime. But Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said recently that the issue of nuclear weapons in wartime may be reconsidered.
In March, Sweden officially joined NATO as the alliance’s 32nd member, abandoning its long-standing non-aligned military policy.
Source: Xinhua
teleSUR/ JF
