Sweden wants no permanent NATO bases on its territory, says foreign minister

By Selen Valente

BRUSSELS (AA) — Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom on Tuesday said the nation is against the establishment of permanent NATO bases and the deployment of nuclear arms on its territory.

Billstrom spoke to Anadolu after the flag ceremony held at NATO headquarters in Brussels on the occasion of Sweden joining the alliance as its 32nd member.

Noting that his country participated in joint operations with NATO prior to its membership, Billstrom said:

"We already have joint operations and of course, there will be NATO troops operating in Sweden. The only thing we have said that we don't want to have is permanent bases."

- No reason 'to have nuclear weapons on our territory'

Billstrom also said Sweden is willing, in principle, to send forces to other allies and that it was preparing to send a mechanized battalion to Latvia.

Referring to ongoing disagreement in Europe on the need to deploy nuclear arms on the continent, Billstrom said:

"In peace time, we don't see any reason to have nuclear weapons on our territory," he underlined.

Acknowledging the role of nuclear weapons in NATO's defense and deterrence doctrine, Billstrom stressed that Stockholm had entered NATO with no preconditions on the matter.

He highlighted that the only three NATO members to possess nuclear weapons are the US, UK, and France, adding that no nukes had been deployed on the territory of any member state since the end of the Cold War.

"No member state is, of course, obliged to take on board nuclear weapons against their own will. So, I think this is a bit of an exaggerated issue from my point of view.

"However, we stand fully behind the fact that nuclear weapons is part of a doctrine operated by NATO," he underlined.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reaffirmed the alliance's stance on the matter Tuesday, stating that there was "no plan to increase the number of allies with nuclear weapons."

Stoltenberg emphasized that while NATO has evaluated its stance against existing conventional forces, there were no plans to establish battle groups in Sweden akin to those in the Baltic countries.

- Calls to ban Israel from Eurovision

In a separate matter, Billstrom refrained from commenting on calls to ban Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest scheduled to be held in Sweden in May.

On these calls, made in protest of Israel's ongoing deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip, he said it was "a question not for the Swedish government. But for the operators of the Eurovision and that is of course the European Broadcasting organization to decide who is to participate and who is not."

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the GazaStrip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

More than 31,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,700 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

- Sweden's NATO membership journey

For Sweden, joining NATO marks the end of a nearly two-year wait that began in May 2022, when the Nordic country submitted its application to join the Western military alliance alongside neighboring Finland, just three months after the war in Ukraine began.

Finland joined NATO last year, while Sweden's application was delayed as Türkiye said Stockholm was reluctant to crack down on terrorist groups on its soil, namely the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara, the US, UK, and EU.

Türkiye's parliament approved Sweden's membership bid in January, but Hungary delayed it until Kristersson paid a visit to Budapest on Feb. 23, after which Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban approved Sweden's accession last month.

*Writing and contributions by Aysu Bicer in London