Response to interpellation 2023/24:294 on measures in view of increased security threats and delayed NATO membership
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
M argues that the government prioritizes Sweden's security and is working intensively to complete the NATO membership 1. M emphasizes that Sweden is ready to take on responsibility as a NATO member and that the country is safer thanks to security assurances from the USA 2. M argues that Sweden pursues a unified policy to limit Russia's options 2 and that unity was needed rather than polarization 3. S considers that SD's statements can contribute to an increased security threat and complicate the NATO membership 4 5. S argues that the government does not answer questions on how they handle the risks of SD's actions 4 5 6. S demands that the government kicks SD's officials out of the Government Offices 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)
Madam Speaker! Laila Naraghi has asked me what measures I and the government are taking so that the Tidö parties' statements do not contribute to an increased security threat against Sweden and so that the Tidö parties' statements do not hinder a Swedish NATO membership.
As I have previously answered in this question, I want to first emphasize that since taking office, the government has worked to strengthen Sweden's security with the absolute highest priority. One of the most important issues for me and the government has been to complete the accession process to Nato that the previous government initiated. That Sweden becomes a member of Nato without delay is of great importance for security, both for Sweden and for Nato.
The government and relevant authorities have worked intensively on the political, legal, economic, and practical preparations for Sweden's membership in the alliance. As an invitee, we are being integrated day by day into NATO's military and civilian structures. We have increased the staffing, both nationally and at NATO's headquarters in Brussels. In short, Sweden is ready to become a full member.
Sweden has also signed a defense cooperation agreement with the USA - Defence Cooperation Agreement, DCA - which creates conditions for more continuous cooperation between our countries and enables American military support and reinforcements if the security situation so requires. The DCA with the USA is of benefit to Sweden both as long as Sweden is not a member of Nato and when Sweden is a member. The agreement needs to be approved in the Riksdag in order for it to enter into force, and I look forward to this consideration during the year.
The government has lived up to all commitments in the trilateral agreement concluded between Sweden, Finland, and Turkey in connection with the NATO summit in Madrid in 2022. In connection with the NATO summit in Vilnius last year, Turkey promised to ratify Sweden's membership application as soon as possible. President Erdogan committed before Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to work towards the Turkish parliament ratifying Sweden's membership application. It is welcome that the Turkish foreign affairs committee approved Sweden's NATO application on December 26. Now it remains for the parliament to vote and for the president to sign. It is a common interest for Sweden and for NATO that Sweden becomes a member of NATO. There is broad and strong support for this goal to be achieved.
Sweden becomes safer in Nato, and Nato becomes stronger with Sweden as a member. I also welcome the broad popular and parliamentary support in Sweden for our membership in Nato.
Laila Naraghi (S)
Madam Speaker! The largest party in the Tidö cooperation is SD. In the autumn, the party leader Jimmie Åkesson gave another speech that has sparked reactions and which, according to one of Sweden's leading terror experts, Magnus Ranstorp, could contribute to the security threat against Sweden being further sharpened and to reinforcing the image that Sweden is Islamophobic.
Ranstorp also pointed out what we all knew: "We have not joined Nato yet either, Erdogan might pick up on this."
Ranstorp also said: "This is in every way an unfortunate statement, above all in a polarized time where we need to be restrained and nuanced."
Aras Lindh, one of Sweden's leading Turkey experts and an analyst at FOI, said: "This comes at a critical stage in the Nato process where the issue has landed on the table of the Turkish parliamentary committee on foreign affairs. There are politicians from several parties there who say they want to form a better understanding of how things look in Sweden before they make a decision, and this does not make the matter any better."
Madam Speaker! These are no small potatoes. This concerns our entire country's security. Therefore, I submitted a written question to Foreign Minister Billström regarding the government's actions to ensure that the Tidö parties do not worsen the Swedish security situation and the conditions for a swift Swedish NATO membership. It is a question based on the recently mentioned expert opinions that Dagens Nyheter published following Åkesson's statements.
In the answer I received from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, there was no answer, not even a reasoning regarding the question. Therefore, I submitted the interpellation that we are now debating to give the Minister for Foreign Affairs a new chance. In the answer that has now been provided, I note that we are also not given any answer now.
Madam Speaker! The Minister for Foreign Affairs and the government can do everything that has been described in the interpellation response - travel to meetings here and there at the government level and do all the important things that are described - but if the government's largest support party, SD, and their actions complicate a NATO membership, it will be delayed. And if SD's statements continue to worsen our security situation, it will deteriorate. Then the government must act.
Madam Speaker! In the autumn's gathered briefing, the Speaker informed all of us members of parliament about war information here in the chamber. Most were present, but prominent SD representatives were conspicuous by their absence. During this exercise, questions were raised regarding individual members of parliament's statements and how these can worsen Sweden's security situation. The Speaker did not want to comment further on this or give any advice regarding how one should behave in order not to worsen the security situation for Sweden. The Speaker instead urged us to highlight this in the debate in the parliamentary work.
I have tried to ask questions to the government, but I see that the Foreign Minister is sitting in Åkesson's lap. It is sad but obvious that he would rather turn a blind eye to the risks that SD's actions entail for Sweden. Never before has the Foreign Minister's silence been so telling.
Madam Speaker! As appears from the Instrument of Government, the members of the Riksdag control the government, among other things, through interpellations, written questions, and KU-reports.
During the past year, I have submitted several questions to the government, primarily to the Minister for Justice. The assessment is that virtually all answers from the Minister for Justice address the question that has been asked. I have not proceeded with interpellations to him. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs should learn from the Ministry of Justice.
Perhaps we may have to consider other scrutiny instruments to get answers from the Foreign Minister, because obviously those we have used so far do not provide any clarity. But perhaps the Foreign Minister plans to say more in upcoming statements and bring clarity to what measures the government is taking so that the Tidö parties' statements do not contribute to an increased security threat against Sweden and do not hinder a Swedish NATO membership. I hope so. We should be able to handle and resolve this issue in the chamber instead of placing that task on, for example, the Committee on the Constitution.
Mattias Vepsä (S)
Madam Speaker! The debate is about our common security and about the increased threat of terrorism and threats against Sweden that we have seen during recent years.
Just as the previous speaker pointed out in a meritorious way, it is difficult to hold the entire government base fully accountable. One of the parties—the largest—does not sit in the government, but it bears a heavy responsibility for the situation that we all find ourselves in. In several debates, interpellations, and written questions, I too have posed the question to government representatives and ministers regarding what responsibility the government has for its entire government base and for the increased threat we see.
It is in that way that individual members here in the chamber - the party leader of the Sverigedemokraterna and the chairman of the Committee on Justice, which is the committee I sit on, among others - have whipped up the atmosphere. One has used hate rhetoric, I would say. One has urged people not to burn just one Quran but gladly a hundred. One urges the tearing down of mosques. One directs mistrust towards individual religious groups in our country but also around the world.
This affects our common security, and it affects what Laila Naraghi has asked about in her interpellation, that is to say, our opportunity to join Nato.
I note that the government, in the answers we receive in the interpellation response here today, but also in the answers to written questions and in other debates we have had, says that it has acted to increase Sweden's security during the past year. It says that it has been and is a strong priority. I would agree that the government has put propositions on the table and taken measures; not least, a new terror strategy was presented a few weeks ago for the Riksdag to make a decision on. No one here is downplaying the fact that this is good.
Very many of these products also have a background in the previous social democratic government's work with anti-terrorism legislation. We have strengthened the police and worked with the justice system to tackle terrorism in Sweden. It was also under a social democrat-led government - under Magdalena Andersson - that we made the decision to apply for NATO membership. We are, therefore, in agreement on that issue.
What we do not agree on concerns the accountability when it comes to the Sweden Democrats. Many of us are concerned that the largest party in the government's support base expresses itself in the way it does and has done during the past year. It was also no news that it would turn out this way – we, along with several others, warned. We warned already during the election year about what happens if you let in a right-wing populist party that does not put Sweden's security first but instead its own interest in increasing the division in our society. The consequence of this was also that the increased division increased the threats and that our security became less.
My question is whether the Minister and the government see that connection. Does the Minister see the connection – that the hate speech and the commitment to increase insecurity affect our opportunity to join Nato? And does the Minister see that one does not need to cross the river for water? Legislation is important, and strategies are super important – but in this situation, it is actually enough to pick up the telephone, speak with Jimmie Åkesson and create some order and clarity in Swedish politics.
Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)
Madam Speaker! Sweden is in the most serious security policy situation since the Cold War, and Russia will, in the foreseeable future, constitute a serious threat to Sweden's and Europe's security. The antagonistic threat situation against Sweden is broad and is becoming increasingly complex.
It is the Swedish Security Service (Säkerhetspolisen) that has the fundamental mission to prevent and detect crimes against Sweden's security, combat terrorism, and protect the central state leadership. During the past year, the Swedish Security Service saw an increase in the number of attack threats in the intelligence flow against both Sweden and Swedish interests abroad. Sweden has moved from being regarded as a legitimate target to being regarded as a prioritized target for terrorism, and in August last year, the terror threat level was raised to 4 on a 5-point scale—from elevated to high threat.
Against that background, the government has taken a number of measures. The government has presented a new national strategy against terrorism and violent extremism. On June 1 of last year, a special criminal liability for participation in a terrorist organization was introduced. The government has tasked the Swedish Security Service (Säkerhetspolisen) with intensifying the work in the Cooperation Council against terrorism, which includes 15 agencies. The Crime Prevention Council has, through the Center against violent extremism, been tasked with strengthening cooperation between the national and local levels to prevent radicalization and violent extremism. Furthermore, the Police Authority has received both expanded powers in border areas and a mandate to strengthen border controls.
Due to the murder of two Swedes in Brussels last year, Swedes abroad are urged to be cautious and vigilant, as well as to obey the advice of local authorities. The Government is following the developments closely and is in close contact with our intelligence and security services, which are working intensively to prevent and stop acts of terrorism against Sweden and Swedes.
The Government is taking measures to ensure that the relevant authorities have the capacity to meet the increased threat directed at Swedish society in relevant and effective ways. To ensure the Security Service's operational capacity, the agency's appropriation is increased, in accordance with the Government's proposal, by 180 million kronor for 2024. In the following years, it is also proposed that the appropriations be increased further.
Regarding the personnel of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the government has during the last months taken measures to strengthen security at our foreign missions. I want to remind at the same time that it is always the host country's responsibility to protect foreign diplomats' missions and maintain their inviolability.
The government takes all incidents where the protection of our foreign authorities is deficient seriously. Sweden's efforts in the fight against terrorism are based on both close cooperation between authorities at the national level and international cooperation, not least within the EU and the UN as well as with Nato. Sweden supports Nato's work in combating terrorism. Counter-terrorism is a strong priority for Nato and continues to be an important issue for Sweden as a member.
Laila Naraghi (S)
Madam Speaker! The impression is that the Minister for Foreign Affairs does not intend to answer the questions here in the chamber. I therefore choose, in this contribution instead, to highlight what the editorial in Dagens Nyheter on the right wrote about SD's statements, which affect Swedish security and the possibility of becoming members of Nato – which we all want. Perhaps it can sharpen the sense of gravity for the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Perhaps he cares more about an editorial that stands to the right than about us Members of Parliament, who sit in Sweden's highest decision-making assembly.
In the article, the signals that SD's actions send to Sweden's friends, not least the USA, are highlighted. DN quotes Sweden's former ambassador to Turkey, Michael Sahlin: "'One American congressman or another will surely ask why they should handle it in this way, when one has a government in Sweden that is dependent on a party that says something so counterproductive.'"
DN also writes: "On Tuesday evening, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said that he had received assurances from his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan that we would be members in 'a couple of weeks'. In July, on the other hand, it was said that it would be ready in October." This was in November. It feels familiar.
Madam Speaker! DN continues: "We are still not in - and we cannot count on having particularly much time to bring the Nato process to fruition. Just as little can we pretend that the domestic political playground is taking place in some kind of parallel reality where Jimmie Åkesson's move does not have foreign policy consequences. Our opportunities to manage the Nato process on our own are limited - it is good if SD does not stomp around and put obstacles in the way of those who try to help us."
Which is exactly what they do. The party lacks security policy judgment, has placed several Putin sympathizers in the Riksdag's Defense Committee, expresses support for Hungary when the country refuses to ratify Sweden's Nato application, and is now using its power position as a coalition partner to sabotage the government in an issue concerning Sweden's national security. It is completely unique.
Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats have demanded that Ulf Kristersson dismiss the Sweden Democrats' officials from the Government Offices. This would be a clear measure in light of the Tidö parties' actions, which have worsened Sweden's security situation and hindered Sweden's Nato membership. The Prime Minister has stated that no national security issue is more important than Sweden quickly becoming a member of Nato.
Madam Speaker! There are several of us who understand that Billström, Kristersson and the Moderaterna are tired of the Sverigedemokraterna and of the hand grenades that Jimmie Åkesson throws against the Swedish Nato application. During yesterday's party leadership debate here in the chamber, we noted that several heavy-weight Moderate representatives left the chamber when Jimmie Åkesson was about to begin his speech. It appeared to be a protest.
Madam Speaker! I love Sweden, and I believe that the Minister for Foreign Affairs and I have this in common. I wish that he could act in Sweden's best interest and take measures in light of the Tidö parties' actions, which, according to some of the country's leading experts, worsen Sweden's security situation and hinder Sweden's NATO membership. The Moderates have the opportunity to do this. They have broad support in and outside the Riksdag if they only dare to take action.
Mattias Vepsä (S)
Madam Speaker! This will be an exciting debate. On the other side, we have the government's representative, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström. He is probably one of Sweden's most experienced politicians and perhaps one of the government's sharpest.
I shall challenge Tobias Billström to set aside his speaking notes for a moment and devote some time and effort to addressing our concern for Swedish security and to answering our questions, which are directed at representatives of the government constellation's largest party and to the security threat that we choose to highlight here today.
Had we seen such a total lack of comments from the government and from heavy-weight Moderate representatives regarding representatives of other parties—perhaps even Moderates—had been the senders of very many of the statements we have seen during this year and which I mentioned in my first post? Would one have said that this is going too far and that it jeopardizes Sweden's security? Would one have said that this is not an action that promotes Sweden's opportunity to join Nato? Would one have said that it is an action that makes Swedes feel forced to take off their national team jersey or hide when they travel abroad, or feel that they cannot celebrate when a Swedish national team has an away match because they risk paying with their own lives?
I believe we would have seen sharper action. I believe we would have seen a Prime Minister who had used sharp words. I believe the Foreign Minister would have agreed on condemnations.
Our questions are simply posed. They concern what the government is doing in various departments to handle the security policy situation Sweden has ended up in because the Sverigedemokraterna express themselves as they do.
Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)
Madam Speaker! Sweden is ready to shoulder its share of the responsibility as a NATO member. We in Sweden are ready to contribute to the security of the entire alliance and have taken steps to ensure that NATO membership becomes an integrated part of our national security and of our defense. Sweden will already this year achieve NATO's goal of at least 2 percent of GDP for defense expenditures.
Sweden will be a credible, reliable and solidary ally. With the upcoming DCA agreement, we create conditions for more continuous cooperation with the USA and enable military support and reinforcements from the American side if the security situation so requires.
The government has lived up to all commitments in the trilateral agreement concluded between Sweden, Finland, and Turkey in connection with NATO's summit in Madrid in 2022. As I said earlier, President Erdogan committed at the summit in Vilnius to work towards the Turkish parliament ratifying Sweden's accession. President Erdogan handed over the papers to the parliament in October, and the Turkish foreign affairs committee processed the issues during the days between Christmas and New Year. Now it is the parliament that is to vote.
I have said all along that we must be armed with patience. This is a marathon, and hopefully we see the finish line now. Now it remains for parliament to vote and for the president to sign.
We in Sweden are safer today than before we applied for NATO membership, partly thanks to the security assurances we have received from the USA and several other NATO countries. NATO has increased its military presence in Sweden's surrounding area, and NATO's Secretary General has repeatedly said that it is unthinkable that NATO would not react if Sweden were threatened.
The regional defense cooperation Joint Expeditionary Force, JEF, has also strengthened its presence and increased its activities in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic. We have also had high-profile naval visits from, among others, the United Kingdom.
Russia will, in the foreseeable future, pose a serious threat to the security of Sweden and Europe. That is why we have applied for membership in Nato. We must be realists and base our actions on – and prepare for – a long-term confrontation that lasts as long as Russia flagrantly violates the UN Charter and the European security order.
Sweden for a united policy within the EU and Nato aimed at limiting Russia's strategic options militarily, economically and politically. In doing so, we also reduce Russia's opportunities to cause harm and Russia's ability for new aggressions in the future.
A strong, predictable and sustained support for Ukraine is our primary tool to achieve this. A strengthened defense, comprehensive sanctions and, not least, Ukraine's EU integration are others.
Laila Naraghi (S)
Madam Speaker! I note that the Minister for Foreign Affairs has not once in this debate answered or even commented on the questions that the interpellation concerns. It concerns SD's statements, which according to experts have worsened the Swedish security situation and made it more difficult for Sweden to join Nato, and what measures the government is taking in connection with this.
I think it is unique that a minister so actively chooses to talk about something else. Tobias Billström does indeed talk about important issues, but he still talks about something else. It is, in any case, troublesome. We will carefully study the minutes after this debate and consider what other instruments are available to get answers to these questions. It is perfectly reasonable that Sweden's Riksdag and Sweden's population get them answered.
The Prime Minister has established that no national security issue is more important than Sweden quickly becoming a member of Nato. If the government means business with this, it is also to be proven when it comes to its own government base.
In conclusion, Madam Speaker, the Minister for Foreign Affairs should be reminded that an interpellation debate refers to a debate on the subject that the interpellation addresses - in this case, measures in view of the Tidö parties' actions, which have worsened the Swedish security situation and complicated Sweden's NATO membership. This type of action from the government's side - that the government itself wants to decide what should be discussed - undermines the Riksdag's opportunities to perform its duties in accordance with the Instrument of Government. It is bad for a government to behave in this way.
I hope that this is something that can be taken up in further discussions between the Riksdagsförvaltningen and the Regeringskansliet, because this is not intended to work this way.
Utrikesministern Tobias Billström (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank the interpellator for an interesting debate and I also thank the other participants, for that matter.
Improper information influence and disinformation campaigns from actors outside Sweden aim to exploit Sweden's vulnerabilities by dividing and polarizing Swedish society. This risks undermining Sweden's interests and threatening Sweden's security. The Government is actively working to meet these threats, for example by strengthening Sweden's psychological defense. This is a task for the whole of society - for the state, authorities, civil society, the private sector, the media, and individual individuals. The ability for source criticism but also trust in serious and responsible sources is central for us to be able to meet this challenge successfully. What is needed now and what is particularly important in this very serious security policy situation is unity and not further polarization.
As I have noted previously, it is a common interest for Sweden and Nato that Sweden becomes a member of Nato. There is broad and strong support for this goal being achieved. Sweden becomes safer in Nato, and Nato becomes stronger with Sweden as a Nato member. I also welcome the broad popular and parliamentary support in Sweden for our membership in Nato.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.