Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist was known to this day as a staunch opponent of NATO membership.
Then it was clear.
Swedish Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvistin The NATO position changed on April 11, 2022. Hultqvist, who had long opposed NATO, then turned to NATO membership.
“That’s when I decided to change my position. At the time, it was already clear to me that Finland was moving towards NATO membership, ”Hultqvist said on Sunday night.
On Sunday, the Hultqvist Social Democrats made the historic decision to support Sweden’s NATO membership. The party’s leadership’s position on NATO had already been formed before, but it was not until Sunday that the party spoke publicly.
Read more: The Swedish Social Democrats support NATO membership
To this day, Hultqvist was known as a staunch opponent of NATO membership. As Minister of Defense, he created a line of defense policy in Sweden, which in Sweden has been called the “Hultqvist Doctrine”.
At its heart has been the strengthening of its own defense and the conclusion of cooperation agreements with a number of different countries. Sweden has had the widest and deepest co-operation with Finland, but the United States has always remained its most important partner.
NATO has also been an important partner for Sweden, but an integral part of the Hultqvist doctrine has still been military non-alignment. Sweden has not wanted to increase military tensions through an alliance.
Non-alignment has served Sweden well, includes a familiar mantra, but on Sunday the prime minister Magdalena Andersson put an end to the more than 200-year-old line: in the future, non-alignment would no longer serve Sweden.
The Hultqvist doctrine is now history.
Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist and Foreign Minister Ann Linde at a news conference on Sunday.
Hultqvist explains his own change of position by reasoning, which concludes that Sweden had no choice but to apply for NATO membership. The conclusion was reached on April 11, just two days before the NATO report published by the Finnish government, and the Prime Minister Sanna Marinin A trip to Stockholm.
Hultqvist concluded that outside NATO, Sweden would undermine its own security and the security of others.
“It was an overall assessment of Sweden’s position. If we were to remain outside NATO in this situation, we would be weakening European and Nordic co-operation. We would become weaker in both our bilateral and multilateral partnerships, we would become weaker as NATO partners. In addition, we would be more vulnerable to pressure from Russia, ”says Hultqvist.
The decision now to apply for NATO membership was necessary. The situation in Sweden and Europe as a whole changed when Russia wanted to ban NATO from admitting new members and attacked Ukraine.
“Russia seems unreliable because they are at war and making demands on the European security order. Russia demands that Finland and Sweden do something or not do something. The situation is new and decisions need to be made. That is why we are pushing for NATO membership, ”says Hultqvist.
Social Democrat is the Swedish ruling party, whose position on NATO membership is crucial. The country’s parliament now has a large majority in favor of NATO membership.
Both Finland and Sweden have now expressed their desire to apply for NATO membership. Russia has stated that it will respond to Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO wishes with countermeasures. According to Hultqvist, Sweden has already taken action against Russia’s actions.
“Russia’s actions can be cyber-attacks, sabotages, hybrid activities, and I don’t rule out military activity either. We have, of course, taken steps to make us ready in different places, ”says Hultqvist.
Finland and Sweden have already received security promises from Britain. According to Hultqvist, security can also come from the presence of naval or air forces in different countries.
“Or it can also be Finnish and Swedish exercises or other arrangements together. There are many ways to prepare or respond together, ”he says.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö spoke on Saturday on the phone of the Russian president Vladimir Putin with. Niinistö told Putin about Finland’s NATO application. Putin said he considered the application a mistake.
Read more: President Niinistö talks to Putin over the phone – “The conversation was direct and clear”
Hultqvist interpreted Niinistö’s and Putin’s call so that it became clear that Finland and Sweden were sovereign states that made their own decisions.
“What is he [Putin] says or not says can’t guide our way of making decisions. What’s interesting is how they react. They reacted to the war in Ukraine, a war that is the largest since World War II. They are responding by demanding things from European countries. That is unacceptable, and that is why we have come to conclusions. ”
At a press conference on Sunday, the Foreign Minister Ann Linde stated that there is widespread support for NATO and Sweden’s NATO membership in NATO.
However, Turkey has expressed its opposition to Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership. According to Linde, talks with Turkey are ongoing.
Hultqvist did not want to comment.
“It has to be a dialogue, and then we have to get back to it.”
Sweden will take its next steps in its NATO process on Monday, when the parliament will discuss NATO membership. The board may decide to apply for membership as early as Monday.
The Social Democratic Party said it was in favor of NATO membership on Sunday, May 15, 2022.