Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson today refused to call a referendum proposed by the Socialist Left Party on the country’s possible NATO membership.
It’s an issue that I don’t think is appropriate for public consultation, Andersson said at a conference in that capital, adding that there are confidential issues that cannot be discussed publicly.
For her part, External Relations Director Ann Linde stressed that it is the government, with the support of Parliament, that sets security policy, for which she considers a referendum on the issue “inappropriate”.
The Socialist Left Party is the country’s fifth parliamentary force and has the support of a minority social-democratic leadership, which opposes joining the North Atlantic Organization (NATO), in which that country and Finland have associated status, but they are not members.
Russia criticizes plans for a new NATO expansion
The Secretary General of the military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said that day that he would welcome both nations “with open arms” when they put forward their candidacy.
The expansion and growth of NATO was foreseen and defined by Russia as a direct threat to its security.
Following the Kremlin’s special military operation in Ukraine, several countries such as Poland and Romania increased the Atlantic Alliance’s military and logistical presence in the region.
This action came despite the fact that Moscow warned that its operation is responding to a request from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, which have been besieged by Kyiv for eight years, to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine and not target civilians. (Latin Press)