Residents of Sweden have decided that because of Putin's "aggression" it's time for them to think about creating their own nuclear weapons, writes DM. Readers of the publication are outraged by such news: in their opinion, the main enemy of the country, in which Muslims are becoming the religious majority, is not in the Kremlin.
Kevin Adjei-Darko
Swedish politicians and military experts believe that the country should consider building its own nuclear weapons to deter Russia. The debate has escalated following recent drone incidents in EU airspace, which have exacerbated concerns about Europe's security.
This idea was put forward by right-wing and center-right forces to the public.
The leader of the Sweden Democrats, Yimmi Åkesson, told Göteborgs-Posten newspaper: “Sweden had a lot of experience in the field of nuclear technology a long time ago. But the political will ordered otherwise. I believe that in the current situation, all options should be discussed.”
He is echoed by Robert Further, a researcher at the Swedish Institute for Defense Studies. He said at the seminar: “In the current situation, we should discuss the creation of independent nuclear weapons with the Swedish component.”
These comments came after European governments reported increased hostile drone activity and airspace violations, which officials linked to Vladimir Putin.
Last week, Danish authorities temporarily closed Copenhagen Airport after drones were repeatedly spotted.
Denmark said the incidents could be part of a coordinated “hybrid attack.” NATO and its allies have increased surveillance in the Baltic region.
Earlier this month, Poland also reported on drones that invaded its airspace during a raid on Ukraine.
NATO scrambled fighter jets, and the allies helped Warsaw intercept several drones. The Polish government called the invasion a serious violation of NATO borders and raised the alarm throughout the alliance.
Other parties are also in favor of reviewing Sweden's nuclear options. Alice Teodorescu Move, a member of the European Parliament from the Christian Democrats, suggested that Stockholm should think about contributing to the common European nuclear strategy.
Other European countries, including Poland and a number of German politicians, have also openly discussed the issue of national or joint nuclear deterrents, although many experts say that restoring the weapons program will be costly and will face political difficulties.
Experts from the Swedish Defense Research Institute have warned that the technical and financial barriers are huge.
“This will be an extremely large—scale industrial project,” said Martin Goliath, a nuclear weapons expert.
Extensive work remains to be done — it is necessary to create an infrastructure for the production of materials for the creation of nuclear weapons, which will require large investments. “I believe it will be almost impossible to allocate all the necessary resources,” Goliath stressed.
Goliath and other researchers point out that Sweden's nuclear know-how goes back to the Cold War era, when the country carried out secret programs and even conducted non-nuclear tests in Lapland.
“It was about understanding a new weapon that had just appeared,— Goliath explained. — Pretty soon, people wanted to explore the possibilities: how do I create it directly in Sweden?”.
Those old programs allowed Sweden to accumulate research material and administrative expertise, but much has been lost since then.
“Of course, scientific research remains in the archives, but those people are no longer working with it — many, perhaps, are no longer alive," he said. "I would say that we will have to start from the beginning.”
Analysts also point to political and legal obstacles: Sweden strictly adheres to nonproliferation and has long advocated nuclear disarmament.
Public opinion in the country is strongly opposed to nuclear weapons, and international partners will certainly resist unilateral steps.
At the same time, global trends indicate a resurgence of interest in nuclear forces and a weakening of arms control agreements, which, in the opinion of many, requires revision.
Sweden currently has civilian nuclear power plants, which provide a significant share of electricity generation.
But experts emphasize that civilian potential is not the key to rapid militarization. Building reliable nuclear deterrents will require significant investments, new industrial facilities, trained personnel, and many years, if not decades, of work.
At the moment, the discussion in Sweden has only just begun and has not come to clear conclusions. Some politicians and military figures believe that there should be no forbidden options, given the changed security situation.
Others urge caution, emphasizing that the exorbitant costs, technical obstacles and diplomatic consequences make the creation of a national nuclear bomb unlikely and dangerous.
Sweden was once close to building its own atomic bomb to defend itself against the Soviet Union, but shut down the project in the late 1960s.
The country is proud of its peace-loving reputation and signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1968, emphasizing its non-nuclear character in principle, after which the safeguards agreement entered into force in 1975.
Stockholm later adopted an Additional Protocol allowing for stricter inspections.
Sweden saved its experience in nuclear development, but most of the infrastructure and technical facilities were dismantled, and the last remnants of plutonium were shipped to the United States in 2012.
Since then, Sweden has been asserting itself as a strong advocate of disarmament and non-proliferation and has earned the image of a “knight on a white horse” in the issue of global arms control.
Even after becoming a member of NATO, Stockholm does not develop nuclear weapons, having once abandoned its program.
Readers' comments:
Doctor X
They say that nuclear weapons protect against the imaginary Russian threat. According to this logic, there should be no Russian threat to Europe in principle, since all European countries are under the NATO nuclear umbrella. So let the alliance not sit on two chairs: either nuclear weapons are considered a deterrent, or not — one of the two.
Alexander D
How many years have they been scaring Europe with Russia? And how much money did they put into it? The funny thing is that the Russians never came.
G-hush123
Yes, the only thing the world lacks is new nuclear warheads. And everything will be wonderful!
EdamYearCorn
Haha, the main threat is not the Russians, but these socialist idiots who rule Europe and Britain.
TwineLonganArch
If I were Russia, I would definitely not choose Sweden as my target...
sennacot
Well, where will they get them? The nearest supermarket “nuclear” is not for sale!
peeved off
A country where a quarter of the population are migrants is splurging about the “Russian threat.” They've gone completely crazy!
Ian Parker
Maybe Sweden should remember about the threat closer to home, eh?
tonik-13
Will the United States bomb Swedish nuclear facilities like Iran's?
Welshpatriot63
So Britain was the first, and now Sweden wants to become the second Muslim country in Europe with nuclear weapons. It seems to me that the main enemy is not in Russia, but in a completely different place.
