The US and Sweden on Monday opened talks on a military cooperation agreement that will pave the way for a US troop presence in the country as Stockholm is preparing to become a NATO member.
Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told AFP that the details of the agreement still need to be worked out but that it will make “it easier for American troops to operate in Sweden.”
The US already holds military exercises with Sweden, and US troops occasionally operate inside the country, but the agreement could establish a more regular presence.
“It could entail storage of military supplies, investments in infrastructure to enable support, and the legal status of American troops in Sweden,” Jonson said. “The negotiations are started because Sweden is on its way of becoming an ally of the United States, through the NATO membership.”
Sweden’s NATO membership is not guaranteed as Turkey and Hungary have yet to approve its bid. Hungary’s parliament is expected to vote on the issue soon, but Turkey is still making demands of Stockholm that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country could not fulfill.
“Turkey confirms that we have done what we said we would do. But they also say that they want things that we can’t and won’t give them. So the decision is now with Turkey,” Kristersson said.
Despite Turkey’s objection, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg insisted Tuesday that Sweden and Finland will be joining the alliance. “I’m confident that the accession process will be finalized and all NATO allies will ratify the accession protocols in the parliaments, and that also goes for Turkey,” get said.
If Turkey does approve Sweden’s membership, it would mark the first military alliance Sweden has joined in over 200 years and will break its long-standing policy of neutrality, which kept the country out of two world wars.
Does anybody question the functionality of NATO?….. It is fairly antiquated…
Nobody who ought to be questioning its existence or functionality is doing so.
It is falling apart, at the end, no matter who wins there will be no NATO left, and no EU.
Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told AFP that the details of the agreement still need to be worked out but that it will make “it easier for American troops to operate in Sweden.”
What a f*cking idiot.
Sweden has been a de facto NATO member for years. They are as corrupt as any NATO member state.
Has anyone ever seen or heard of a rational explanation why Sweden, a wealthy, social democratic, ONCE neutral nation without any war in more than 130 years, wants to jump on a sinking ship like NATO is AND GET INVOLVED IN A WAR AGAINST A NUCLEAR SUPERPOWER which is visibly on the winning side?
Finland, more than 70 years of neutrality, peace and prosperity wanting to join NATO.
Urho Kekkonen fought for that neutrality and it paid off for the Finnish people, now useless, incompetent, corrupt people are ready to throw Finland under the bus for US interests.
Why, what is in it for the people? I ask for a rational convincing explanation?
What is in it for the Swedes and Fins except money for a totally corrupt elite. There is no other explanation I know of.
Personally, I think the US is twisting a lot of arms, diplomatically, to push neutral countries like Sweden and Finland into the ranks of NATO. We have already seen how Sweden colluded in the abduction of Julian Assange; Sweden is certainly as corrupt as its neighbors. And Finland is weaker than Sweden. And adding them to NATO just adds more pressure against Russia, which is of course what the US wants. The way this show is going, it is all headed for a very no-good ending.
The change came from the electorate, the Swedish Social Democrats (who were the government at the time) only reluctantly and slowly followed the sentiment among the voters – this led to them losing the 2022 election – the idea that the US were twisting arms to achieve this is just not supported by the available evidence.
Well, it would not surprise me to learn that the Swedes are just as silly as the Americans, and just as easily gulled by modern mass-media propaganda.
Well thanks for at least acknowledging that this was not a US arm twist or bribing action. You are now left with the problem that ‘gulled by modern mass-media propaganda’ had to happen in an exceedingly short period. As there were in both Sweden and Finland a majority for neutrality until late 2021 and a majority for joining NATO by about end April start May 2022.
So for some reason propaganda that had not worked for decades suddenly worked within less than a quarter of a year – that kind of needs an explanaition.
Another viewpoint: https://www.indianpunchline.com/sweden-hustled-into-military-pact-with-us/
Thanks for the link, do you see anything in it that contradicts the viewpoint I have been stating, because I read it and did not anywhere see evidence neither of US arm twisting nor of a reluctant electorate in either Sweden or Finland being taken into NATO against their will.
Phil Giraldi with Judge Napolitano.
The problem with “rules based international order” is that the rules are habitually undermined by maneuvers such as this one.
If we intend to bypass policies based on the notion that “the end justifies the means”, the policies become meaningless.