Professor: Positive and successful meeting

Rarely has a Swedish prime minister and a Finnish president spent so much time with an American president in the White House rose garden.

– It was a very positive meeting, says Professor Dag Blanck.

President Joe Biden was personal and overwhelming when he embraced Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö

– He expressed himself positively about Sweden and Finland, about the countries as such, says Dag Blanck, professor of North American studies at Uppsala University.

– Magdalena Andersson thought I made a very elegant appearance, where she started with a reference to the Swedes who arrived at what became the state of Delaware in the 17th century and about the Swedish-American relations, Blanck continues.

Green transition

He notes that Andersson, and also Biden, raised issues that did not only concern military and security policy relations. Green change, democracy issues and common values ​​were also addressed.

– It was a strong mark from the US side and from the Swedish side. They emphasized the proximity between Sweden and the United States, on several different levels.

Blanck emphasizes that the meeting in the White House was about a very special occasion when Sweden changed its foreign policy.

– It is the first time since the first barbaric war in 1801 that Sweden and the United States become formally allied – even though contacts and cooperation have since been close.

Joe Biden is considered to have great knowledge of Sweden, as he has previously been a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and, among other things, has been active politically in environmental issues. Then he also had close contacts with Swedish diplomats.

Return to NATO

Professor Blanck also comments that President Biden emphasized the importance of NATO.

– The importance of NATO has been questioned, not least by his representatives. It marks that the United States is once again attaching importance to NATO.

And to include Sweden and Finland in the NATO defense alliance is a success for a US president – even if the circumstances are terrible with a Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.