In the opinion of the Russian ambassador in Stockholm, the new member countries in the hostile alliance are legitimate counter-attack targets. According to the Swedish Foreign Minister, influence companies are not accepted.
12:03•Updated 13:06
STOCKHOLM The Russian ambassador in Stockholm is scaring Sweden and, on the other hand, also Finland, with the consequences of NATO membership.
Viktor Tatarintsev long text (you will switch to another service) appeared on the embassy’s website last night and they were the first to report on it Dagens Nyheter (you switch to another service) and Expressen (you switch to another service).
In the letter, the ambassador does not leave it unclear that Sweden’s NATO solution and application is a big mistake and is based on misleading the Swedes. The ambassador justifies his views with, among other things, numerous contacts from ordinary Swedes that the Russian embassy has received.
According to Tatarintsev, it is well known that Sweden has started to be lured into NATO long before the start of the “special operation in Ukraine”. Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
According to the ambassador, the order to give up Sweden’s independence came from the US capital, Washington. According to it, Sweden must give up its independence because “we need the whole of Northern Europe as NATO’s new front against Russia”, Tatarintsev claims.
According to the ambassador, as a result of the membership of Finland and Sweden, the border between NATO and Russia is twice as long as before.
– If anyone thinks that this somehow improves the security of Europe, you can be sure that the new member countries of the enemy coalition are legitimate targets for Russian countermeasures, including military ones, Ambassador Tatarintsev writes.
The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summons the ambassador for a hearing
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström responded in the morning to the ambassador’s comments by saying that Tatarintsev will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a hearing.
According to Billström, it will be made clear to the ambassador at the hearing that Sweden does not accept such an obvious attempt to influence.
– Sweden’s security policy is determined by Sweden, and no one else, the foreign minister emphasizes in his statement, which was reported in the news Swedish television SVT (you switch to another service).
Swedish Radio (you switch to another service) a researcher from the Swedish Foreign Policy Institute interviewed by the news department Gunilla Herolf considers the ambassador’s writing a clumsy attempt to influence Sweden and Swedes.
According to him, it is unlikely that any Swede would turn against Sweden’s NATO membership based on the writing.
In the news published before the Swedish foreign minister’s comment, Herolf urges the government to ignore the ambassador’s speeches.