Swedes sweeten on NATO

Support in Sweden for joining NATO has jumped: Thirty-two percent of survey respondents stated that they were in favour of Sweden joining Nato. Two years ago, that number was 23 percent. The proportion of Swedes who firmly want to stay out of Nato has gone down in the same period. The new poll showed that ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

Support in Sweden for joining NATO has jumped:

Support in Sweden for joining NATO has jumped:

Thirty-two percent of survey respondents stated that they were in favour of Sweden joining Nato. Two years ago, that number was 23 percent.

The proportion of Swedes who firmly want to stay out of Nato has gone down in the same period. The new poll showed that two in five Swedes say no to joining, down from 2011 when half of Swedes had the same attitude.

"It looks like Nato proponents have advanced their positions," political scientist Ulf Bjereld told SvD.

He said that debate in recent months about Sweden’s military capacity had likely stirred Swedes’ thoughts about Nato. The Armed Forces’ ability to defend Sweden if it came under attack has been under scrutiny since Supreme Commander Sverker Göransson in January said Sweden could hold out for maximum one week.

As this piece makes clear, Sweden has been a more active NATO partner than several current members:

Since 2006, Sweden has had civilian and military professionals on the ground in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. It has played a leadership role in a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mazir-e-Sharif and has 400 people on the ground helping to advance political and economic stability in the surrounding region. As it works on the transition to Afghan-led teams, Sweden will work with NATO Allies Norway and Latvia, as well as with NATO partner Finland. In doing so, Sweden not only advances democratic development abroad, but also gains a seat at the table in shaping Alliance policy directions.

But it was during NATO’s Operation Unified Protector in Libya that Sweden reached a new level of partnership, which has no parallels among partner states.

The first notable aspect was how quickly Sweden responded to the 2011 Libyan crisis. After the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1973 and NATO requested Swedish assistance to the operation, the Swedish parliament quickly authorised Sweden’s participation in the mission, in a vote of 240 to 18 with 5 abstentions. Though public opinion polls across Europe varied, most Swedes strongly favoured of their country’s engagement.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

Tag: NATO

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