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NATO

US Secretary of State says again Sweden will join Nato ‘soon’

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has reiterated his belief that Sweden will soon become the 32nd member of the Nato alliance in a speech in Helsinki City Hall that marked the culmination of his Nordic tour.

Published: 2 June 2023 15:14 CEST
US Secretary of State says again Sweden will join Nato 'soon'
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken makes his speech in Helsinki City Hall. Photo: Emmi Korhonen/TT

Blinken, the US equivalent of a foreign minister, spoke warmly during the speech of Finland as Nato’s 31st member state, before expressing his confidence that Sweden would soon follow. 

“Nato added Finland as its 31st ally, and we will soon add Sweden as the 32nd,” Blinken said. “As we head into the Nato summit in Vilnius, our shared message will be clear. Nato allies are committed to enhance deterrence and defence. Nato’s door remains open to new members, and it will stay open.” 

Blinken’s speech came as it emerged that Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg would visit Turkey at the weekend to attend the inauguration of re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and hold talks with him, adding on the pressure on Erdogan to drop his opposition to Sweden joining Nato.

Stoltenberg on Thursday said during a Nato foreign ministers’ meeting in Norway that he would soon visit Ankara to work towards Sweden joining “as early as possible”, after speaking with Erdogan by phone earlier this week.

In his speech, Blinken detailed the extent to which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had failed, diminishing Russia’s influence internationally, weakening its economy, and uniting its enemies. 

He spoke at length of how the lands allied behind Ukraine had pulled together, sending weapons, imposing sanctions, and punishing Russia by isolating it internationally. 

“Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” he said. “Has been a strategic failure, greatly diminishing Russia’s power, its interests and its influence for years to come.”

Blinken arrived in Oslo earlier this week, going on to visit Luleå for a trade meeting between the US and the EU, where he also met with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.

He then moved on to Helsinki, where he has on Friday held meetings with Finland’s prime minister Sanna Marin and its foreign minister, Pekka Haavistö. 

The Nato statement issued on Friday said that Stoltenberg would attend Erdogan’s inauguration on Saturday. The Turkish president was last week re-elected to serve another five-year term.

The statement said the visit would extend into Sunday and Stoltenberg would “have bilateral meetings with President Erdogan and with senior Turkish officials”.

Turkey has dragged its feet over admitting Sweden to the military alliance, which can only admit new members if all existing members agree unanimously.

Finland, which had originally hoped to join in lock step with Sweden, formally joined the alliance alone in April.

Erdogan has accused Sweden of being a haven for “terrorists”, especially members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström on Thursday said his country has fulfilled all its commitments to join, and “it is time for Turkey and Hungary
to start the ratification of the Swedish membership to Nato”.

Many of the ministers who attended the Oslo meeting said they wanted to see Sweden join before a Nato summit in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius on July 11-12. Stoltenberg has said that goal was “absolutely possible”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose country is the dominant member of Nato, also said on Thursday that “we fully anticipate” Sweden joining by the Vilnius summit.

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MILITARY

EXPLAINED: Is national service compulsory in Sweden?

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently revealed plans to introduce compulsory national service, referencing Sweden as an inspiration for this. But how does national service work in Sweden, and is it compulsory for everyone?

Published: 27 May 2024 15:19 CEST
EXPLAINED: Is national service compulsory in Sweden?

Although Sweden hasn’t formally been involved in a war since 1814, the country has had some sort of conscription system since the 17th century, excluding a seven-year window between 2010 and 2017, where it was scrapped (or more specifically, “suspended in peacetime”).

Historically, it applied to men only, but was extended to include women in 2010.

Is it mandatory?

Yes and no.

When a Swedish citizen turns 18, they receive a letter from The Swedish Defence Conscription and Assessment Agency asking for information on their health, interests and education, in order to determine whether they should be called up for compulsory military service, officially known as värnplikt (“duty to protect”). 

This document is sent out to all Swedes turning 18 in a given year, and it is mandatory to fill this in, with a few exceptions, such as people who receive benefits from the Social Insurance Agency or residential care homes for children and young people (like HVB-hem or SiS-hem).

Having said that, it is by no means every Swede turning 18 in a given year who actually ends up carrying out military service.

In 2023, the agency collected information on 102,286 young people in Sweden turning 18 that year, with 36,420 called up for testing.

If you don’t turn up to these tests, known in Swedish as mönstringen, you can be sentenced to brott mot totalförsvarsplikten or “crime against the total defence obligation”, which carries with it a fine of 2,000 kronor or up to a year in prison.

These tests at the Swedish Defence Conscription and Assessment Agency are mandatory, and include a theory test, a medical examination, eye and colour blindness tests, hearing tests, as well as an EKG test, pulse and blood pressure tests.

You’ll also need to do a general fitness test and a strength test, as well as an interview with a psychologist to determine whether you’re cut out for military training.

Each test will be scored separately, with your total points determining which course within the Swedish armed forces you’ll be assigned to. You’re allowed to express a preference, although you’re not guaranteed to get a position on the course of your choice. Military training (colloquially known as lumpen) takes between 9 and 15 months, depending on the course.

Not everyone who carries out these tests will actually be called up for military training – in 2023, 6,144 (around 6 percent of everyone turning 18 that year) were assigned a course within the Swedish army, where they were joined by an additional 1,166 individuals who had applied of their own accord. 

Those who pass the tests but who aren’t assigned a position in the army are placed in the reserves, alongside people who delayed their conscription (due to their studies, for example). People in this group could be called up to perform military service if Swedish security is placed on high alert.

What about conscientious objectors?

People who for religious or political reasons do not want to use weapons can apply to carry out weapon-free military service or vapenfri tjänst. 

This doesn’t mean that you won’t have to serve at all, but you could be assigned to civil basic training, which essentially means you’d help ensure that important services like healthcare, childcare or the fire services were still running if there was a crisis.

At the moment, there are no civil basic training courses for conscientious objectors running, although the government has the power to reintroduce these.

There is no programme in Sweden similar to UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans for 18-year-olds to dedicate one weekend a month volunteering in the community, for example by “delivering prescriptions and food to infirm people”.

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