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NATO

Sweden’s top Nato negotiator to step down after Turkey deal

The official who led Sweden's Nato negotiations under both the current government and the former Social Democrat-led one is stepping down next month to join the private sector.

Sweden's top Nato negotiator to step down after Turkey deal
Sweden's chief Nato negotiator Oscar Stenström. File photo: Wiktor Nummelin/TT

Oscar Stenström was appointed to lead Sweden’s preparations to join Nato in the spring of 2022 by the then prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, with her successor, Ulf Kristersson deciding to keep him in the job when he took over as prime minister last autumn. 

Stenström is now going to take a role with Wallenberg Foundations AB, which overseas the foundations started by various members of the Wallenbergs, Sweden’s leading industrialist family. 

“My duties as Nato negotiator are now complete as a result of the deal in Vilnius,” Stenström said in a written statement. “Turkey has promised ratification. I look forward to my new duties in the Wallenberg network.” 

Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, said he wanted to thank Stenström for his “extraordinary efforts” and for “the fact that he has completed the task which he began”.

“This continuity has been important. I am convinced that Oscar is going to be of great value even in the private sector.” 

Paul Levin, head of Stockholm University’s Institute for Turkish Studies said it was still not certain that the country’s parliament will back Sweden’s Nato membership when it meets again in October, but said that Sweden still considered Stenström’s mission as completed. 

“What you can say is that the negotiations, themselves, are over and that now it’s about implementing the agreements that have been reached, first in Madrid and then later in Vilnius, and that it’s no longer up to Oscar Stenström to lead a demonstration. I suspect that’s how they see it.” 

Stenström began his carrier as a Social Democrat politician and official in his early 20s, becoming a Social Democrat member of his local county council in Skövde in 1994 and serving as International Secretary for SSU, the party’s youth wing, between 1998 and 2000. 

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SWEDEN AND GERMANY

What’s on the agenda for German chancellor’s visit to Sweden?

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Sweden to discuss security and business competitiveness with his Nordic colleagues on a two-day visit.

What's on the agenda for German chancellor's visit to Sweden?

Scholz was to visit the Stockholm headquarters of telecommunications giant Ericsson on Monday, accompanied by the prime ministers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

They were to “discuss security policy issues such as hybrid threats, civil preparedness and new technologies,” the Swedish government said in a statement.

A press conference was to follow just before 6pm.

“At a dinner that evening, discussions will centre on continued support to Ukraine,” the government said, as Russian troops launched a major ground operation against Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region amid Kyiv’s struggles with Western aid delays.

The Nordic countries and Germany have been among Ukraine’s biggest donors since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

Berlin is the world’s second biggest donor to Ukraine, giving 14.5 billion euros so far, according to the Kiel Institute.

“Security policy and the upcoming Nato summit will top the agenda,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote in a piece published in financial daily Dagens Industri on Monday.

“Financial competitiveness issues” will also be discussed, he said, noting that “the Nordic region wants to play a key role in efforts to strengthen the European economy”.

On Tuesday, Kristersson and Scholz were scheduled to hold bilateral talks and visit the Norrsken Foundation, which supports young growth companies active in the green and digital transition.

Afterwards the two leaders were to sign a “strategic innovation partnership” between Germany and Sweden.

The visit was to be their first bilateral meeting since Sweden joined Nato in March 2024.

The next Nato summit will take place July 9th-11th in Washington.

“Sweden has, and must have, a clear international voice in the world,” Kristersson wrote in Dagens Industri.

The Scandinavian country has enjoyed decades of strong cooperation with Nordic and Baltic countries, and with intensified collaboration “with two other Baltic Sea countries, Poland and Germany, our region will be safer and stronger”, he said.

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