‘Sweden joined NATO because of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine’, Swedish Foreign Minister says

‘Sweden joined NATO because of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine’, Swedish Foreign Minister says

hello to you thanks very much for finding the time to talk to us today thank you very much now Sweden joined NATO in March of this year that was after Decades of neutrality so just explain to us first of all why Sweden joined now well Sweden joined because of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and that led both Sweden and Finland to reach the decision that it was only by joining NATO and been given the protection under Article 5 one for all all for the many but we will be would be able to protect our populations it’s also clear that Russia just before the war in December sent a letter to the World by foreign minister sge lavro saying that Sweden and Finland would never be allowed to join NATO so we already knew where Russia was on this particular issue but as you can all see this was a major defeat already for Russia but Sweden and Finland has joined and that Sweden has given up a history of 200 years of being a non-military aligned nation and this is as a consequence of this war and the ruthlessness which uh Russia pursues this war against Ukraine and its population and as you’ve spelled out you joined NATO in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine presumably then you do understand why it is so important for Ukraine itself to join the alliance how close is Ukraine to being admitted into the NATO fold indeed it is very important of course for Ukraine to be allowed to war path towards becoming a full member of NATO and also the EU because these two processes are slightly interconnected because what Ukraine now performs in reforms of its Constitution its law laws against corruption Etc will also of course play into the the thing about becoming a NATO NATO member and we see progress even under these very difficult circum ances with the war ongoing against Ukraine because of Russia’s illegal aggression we can see that Ukraine performs I’m not going to set a specific date but I would like to point to the fact that the summit here in Washington is now following up on last year’s Summit in villus in Lithuania and the word irrevocable the irrevocable path for Ukraine towards NATO membership is now in the conclusions of the summit and this is something which Sweden is very very much in favor of uh this is Robert Parson Chief foreign editor at France 24 given what you just said uh and and the pressure on Ukraine coming from Russia what more precisely can be done at the moment to help the ukrainians achieve the goal ultimately uh of Victory against Russia well one very important thing also coming out of the summit here in in DC of NATO is the decision to see to it that NATO will not now take over the coordination of the support for Ukraine from the US and other member states it will be a coordinating organization and this is very beneficial for the long-term support by NATO allies towards Ukraine let’s let us not forget that 99% of all military support to Ukraine has come from NATO NATO allies uh with this coordination mechanism it will be possible to increase the production of Defense material given to Ukraine and this is something which Europe has to do because Europe has to understand understand that we have also a greater responsibility than other states to see to it that Ukraine receives defense material not only to defend itself but also to re retake the offensive and ultimately win decisive military victories in the battlefield which is the only thing which is going to make Russia alter it its cause and it its goals re the reestablishment of a territorial integrity and sovereignity of Ukraine is Paramount and this is ultimately what this war is all about you you say that but there do seem to to be divisions within NATO about how to achieve Victory and what victory actually means ultimately today we had a response from Moscow to the NATO Summit Dimitri pesov the press secretary Vladimir Putin uh said saying that there would have to be a strong response to what NATO had done and said over the last three days is there a real danger do you think that this war in Ukraine could tip over into a wider conflict between Russia and NATO and what needs to be done how should NATO act given that that possibility exists in the background well first of all we have seen a lot of saber rattling from Russia over the years since since Russia launched its fullscale invasion of of against Ukraine and even prior to that so I don’t think that we should take those threats very seriously the ultimate thing to understand is that Russia only believes in one thing and that is power and military power above all all else and helping Ukraine to regain the initiative by helping out militarily humanitarian financial and political is Sweden’s first and foremost political priority there is nothing more important for us in foreign policy when aiding Ukraine and we are going to act along those lines also as a NATO Ally and as a member of the EU because the security concerns us greatly uh in all these organizations what’s going on the outcome of of Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine and helping Ukraine as I said is a long-term commitment it has to go on regardless of elections in the US and regardless of of how we view um Russia’s machinations with with China Iran and North Korea who are ganging up as authoritarian States and China wishes of course to see uh Russia win in Ukraine because that will mean the that the whistle blows for its Ambitions in the Indo Pacific so the security of the Euro Atlantic and the indopacific is now closely interconnected I would say that they’re almost two sides of the same coin and we have to realize this and we have also to understand that if we want us to remain committed to what’s going on in Europe and the war in Ukraine we NATO allies and the EU has to show interest and commitment to what’s going on in the Indo Pacific that doesn’t mean Military Support it’s a question about political support and the understanding that the four IP Nations Japan South Korea Australia New Zealand who are represented here in at the at the the summit here in Washington with NATO as partners but they have great concerns over the assertiveness of China and we have to weigh this in in our strategies I I want to come back to China in a moment sir but first you mentioned elections and I just want to get clarity from you on whether you and your European NATO colleagues are concerned that Donald Trump might win the election in the United States in November and what kind of impact his presence may have on the Block I think we first of all have to snap out of a misunderstanding all of us namely that the discussion of of us engagement in NATO and support is only about Donald Trump uh what he has unfortunately it seems to me we have lost our oh can you hear us there foreign minister we had some sound issues on our line but I gather you have reconnected do you hear me well uh I hear you very well all right well go ahead sir answer my question then about Donald Trump what impact his possible win in the United States may have on NATO yeah well the important thing to understand is that the United States has has had over several years and decades throughout many presidents uh legitimate concerns over the fact that you European allies have not spended enough on defense uh there is a lot of talk for example about the 2% Target Sweden is reaching the 2% Target already this year and we will remain above the 2% Target and we encourage others to do the same and we consider it as a flaw and not a ceiling and I think that this has to be be weighed in when we talk about the outcome of a US election we shouldn’t have free riding in in NATO everybody has to live up to their commitments and this is a clear signal we wish to send also to the American people we understand that you cannot carry the burden of Defending Europe alone we all have to do our part of the work and those NATO allies who have allies who have not yet reached the 2% goal should speed up and do so all right a final question for you then you mentioned China as well a bit earlier on NATO has issued a really rather strong statement on China this week at the summit calling Beijing and I quote a decisive enabler of Russia’s war in Ukraine you personally have called on NATO to step up uh efforts on China just spell out for us why and your response then to um the backlash that we can see that this is already generating in Beijing well first of all we fully back this statement because it is quite clear that China together with countries like Iran and North Korea are enablers of Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine they are supporting Russia by military means and also by by political and financial means and this we have to take into account when we speak about China there is also China’s assertiveness against other states in its neighborhood I’m not only talking about the ip4 Japan South Korea Australia New Zealand but also other states like the Philippines like Vietnam and of course also Taiwan who feel the breath of a dragon down their NE neck and we have to take this into account and understand that the Euro Atlantic security and the Indo Pacific security are something which should be of concern to all of us and we should stand up for values and for rights regardless of geographies and NATO membership as Sweden now has is also commitment to a certain a certain row of values so sending a clear signal to China that we see what you do we see that you support Russia and this is something which we will weigh in when we deal with you this is very important and it is an important outcome of the summit here in DC that this signal this clear message is being sent to Beijing Great to talk to you sir thank you very very much indeed for your time that’s Sweden’s foreign minister Tobias belstrom speaking to me and Rob Parson here on the program

As Sweden attends its first NATO summit as a member of the alliance and after decades of neutrality, FRANCE 24’s Nadia Massih spoke to Tobias Billström, Swedish Foreign Minister.
#Sweden #NATO

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