Sweden says it is ready to host temporary NATO bases on its soil, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced Friday, June 9, in a tribune, while his country is the last of the Nordic states not yet to be a member. of the Alliance. Sweden being blocked by Turkish and Hungarian vetoes.
With our correspondent in Stockholm, Carlotta Morteo
“ Strengthen Sweden’s security and send a strong message to Russia These are the two arguments put forward by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense to legitimize their decision. That of temporarily allowing NATO troops to be stationed in Sweden, and alliance equipment to transit or be stored there, anti-aircraft defense systems for example.
A way of saying: Sweden is not alone, it takes the threat posed by Russia very seriously and takes advantage of the time spent in NATO’s antechamber to get ever closer to its allies “.
>> To read also: In Oslo, NATO boss optimistic about Sweden’s imminent entry into the Alliance
Logistic challenges
NATO is currently working on drawing up new plans for the joint defense of the region, they include Finland, but not yet Sweden, which poses a number of logistical challenges for its own defense as well as for the control of the Baltic Sea.
In any case, the government considers that the country is safer today than before its application for membership, but considers ” that it is impossible to say where the limits of Vladimir Putin’s territorial ambitions lie “.