The main Swedish NGOs working for peace and disarmament are losing their public funding, the day after Sweden joined NATO. The right-wing government, supported by the far right, thus silences the criticism of these century-old pacifist organizations, highly respected for their contribution to the democratic debate in Sweden.
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From our correspondent in Stockholm,
With Sweden’s membership in NATO and the forced remilitarization of the Nordic country, anti-NATO arguments are becoming more and more inaudible.
“ It is clear that the current government does not want to support the debate on international issues, police and security here in Sweden » analyzes Malin Nilsson, general secretary of the International Women’s League for Peace and Freedom (IKFF), an organization founded in 1919 which lost the equivalent of 50% of its budget. Until today, regardless of the parties in power, the subsidy had never been called into question. “ The Swedish state has always considered it its duty to support civil society, the formation of opinion and the debate of ideas to keep democracy alive. »
Especially since the total amount of aid to the 18 peace organizations in Sweden amounts to only 20 million crowns (around 1.8 million euros). That’s a drop in the ocean compared to the 10 billion euros that Sweden will spend on its defense this year.
Even if more than 60% of Swedes are in favor of their country’s entry into NATO, NGOs regret that there has been no substantive debate, for two years, on the consequences and the price to do so. pay to be part of the Alliance:
“ For two years, critical voices at NATO and substantive debates have had very little space on television sets and in the media “, relates Linda Åkerström, head of advocacy at Svenska Fred, the Swedish Society for Peace and Arbitration, Sweden’s oldest disarmament organization (1883). “ We had to compromise with our values to obtain the agreement of Turkey and Hungary. We lost part of our sovereignty by signing a defense agreement with the United States. And even now that we are members of the Alliance, we still do not know if the conscripts will be sent on missions for NATO. Nothing is discussed. »
THE ” myth of Swedish neutrality »
If Sweden’s transition to NATO is indeed a historic event for the country, many researchers have already undermined the ” myth of Swedish neutrality “. Niklas Granholm, deputy director at the Swedish Defense Agency, says that even during the Cold War, “ Sweden had made secret agreements with the United Kingdom and the United States in the event of an attack. It was our insurance in the event of war, in case the policy of non-alignment failed. » With the fall of the USSR, Sweden dismantled its army and very quickly moved closer to NATO. In 1994, Sweden joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PPP), began participating in joint operations and established a Swedish delegation for NATO in Brussels.
However, it wanted to maintain intact the image of a neutral, pacifist country, presenting itself as a humanitarian and diplomatic power, a good student of demilitarization and non-proliferation. Over the last 20 years, Swedish peace organizations have not failed to point out the contradictions and hypocrisies of Sweden, which is also a major arms producer.
“ For a long time, more than ten years, we have been surfing on this image. We make beautiful speeches, but actions do not follow, believes Malin Nilsson. Today, the mask has definitely fallen. So much so, that the current government believes that it no longer even needs to pretend to support the movement for peace, disarmament and democratic debate on these international security issues. »
While the war in Ukraine did precipitate Sweden and Finland’s request for joint membership, many Swedish military specialists believe that joining the Alliance was a “step natural “.
Although peace organizations are fully aware of this, they continue to think that Sweden could have afforded to remain outside the Alliance and, now that Sweden is effectively a member of NATO, they are concerned to see that the ruling coalition only puts forward militaristic solutions and clearly does not hesitate to stifle critical voices.
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