The Swedish Prime Minister says he doesn't want to join NATO

The Swedish Prime Minister says he doesn’t want to join NATO. 

STOCKHOLM: Magdalena Andersson, the prime minister of Sweden, said Tuesday that she didn’t want to join NATO because Russia had invaded Ukraine. She said that joining now would make Europe less safe.

A war hasn’t broken out between Sweden and the rest of the world since 1814. 

But the country has become more and more entwined with NATO in recent years. This is because tensions between Russia and the rest of the world in the Baltic region have risen.

Russia’s invasion, which it calls a “special military operation,” has led to renewed calls for Sweden and Finland to join NATO. 

Finland, which has also stayed out of the alliance, has also been pushed to join. 

If Sweden were to apply to join NATO now, it would make things even more unstable in this part of Europe and make things even tenser, Andersson said.

For the whole time, I have said that what is best for Sweden’s security and the security of this part of Europe is that the government has a long-term, consistent and predictable policy. That is still my opinion.

Late last month, Russia warned that Finland and Sweden could face “serious military-political consequences” if they joined NATO, which is not something Russia wants.

After meeting opposition party leaders to talk about the worsening security situation, Andersson said.

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When a poll was done on Friday, 51 percent of Swedes said they wanted to join NATO, up from 42 percent in January. People who didn’t want to join dropped from 37% to 27%. When this poll was done the first time, it showed that most people favored it. 

Ulf Kristersson, the leader of the Moderates, asked the government to start a wide-ranging debate about NATO membership in Sweden. This debate has already begun in Finland, where the Moderates are in power. More: read more

A move by Finland or Sweden to join NATO would put more pressure on the other country to do the same thing.

“It’s essential,” Kristersson told the news agency TT.

Our goal isn’t to hide behind a windbreak and hope that everything will blow over, then be surprised by a Finnish move in the next few months.