Sweden and Finland: against joining NATO!

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This is a policy coup in the interests of capitalism and imperialism

Per Olsson Socialist Justice Party (ISA Sweden)

(This article was first published on May 19, 2022)

In an undemocratic coup-like manner, and with the help of hypocritical "shockism", the Swedish government pushed the country to join NATO, a military alliance led by U.S. imperialism. This weekend, the leadership of Sweden's ruling Social Democratic Party officially supported Sweden's membership in NATO.

The SPD said in a statement: "The party held a national committee meeting on May 15, 2022, at which it was decided that our party will work to promote Sweden's application to join NATO." The next day, the Swedish government decided to apply for NATO membership.

The decision by the SPD and its government has the unanimous support of all right-wing parties, including the racist Sweden Democrats, capitalists and the military, who have long advocated for Sweden to join NATO.

The minions of the Social Democrats also prevailed over weak resistance within their own party. Perhaps more than any other event, this "NATO coup" has revealed that Social Democracy has become a bourgeois party through and through. In order to hide the long-established decision, the so-called "security policy dialogue" was held within the party, but this so-called dialogue is a mockery of democracy. At the meeting, only party leaders were allowed to speak.

"Tonight's so-called 'dialogue' of the Social Democrats on NATO shows very clearly that the party leadership has already decided on this," one member dissatisfied with the decision criticized after attending just one of three meetings.

And when the National Committee of the Social Democrats met on Sunday, there was only one resolution - agreeing to join NATO.

Those who want to oppose joining NATO must not be discouraged. Quick action is needed now to counter the "coups" of the ruling elite and the rise of militarism through protests, actions, and counterarguments, while also recognizing that this will be a long-term struggle and our position must be: both against NATO and Against Putin! We oppose any one imperialist power and capitalist government and demand a united struggle for immediate disarmament, banning nuclear weapons, and building an oppressed working class at the bottom, rather than seeking alliances with different powers and their elites.

We desperately need a strong socialist left opposition, and the struggle against NATO can sow the seeds of a socialist rebirth of the workers' movement - a new workers' party and democratic militant unions.

The struggle for peace—against war and militarism—remains throughout the history of the labor movement. The authors of The Solid Ghetto—An Anti-Militarism Handbook wrote: “The struggle against militarism, or rather, the articulation of the principled foundations of this struggle: the economic link between militarism and capitalist development, and its relationship to bourgeois rule. political ties is the main task of socialists." This pamphlet was published in 1913 by the then backbone of the socialist left wing, the Social Democratic Youth League. The socialist left has repeatedly argued that if the roots of militarism—capitalism and class society—are not replaced by socialist society, then we can never eliminate militarism.

In March, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson also said at the time that Sweden's membership in NATO would further destabilize Europe, and other ministers saw no reason to apply. But it didn't take long for the Social Democratic leadership and government to turn to their "masters", the ruling Swedish billionaire class and other bourgeois establishments, in an attempt to abandon the old so-called neutral "non-alignment" under the pretext of the Ukrainian war Policy - Although Sweden has never been truly non-aligned, this policy has long enjoyed overwhelming popular support and is seen as a means of keeping the peace. (Sweden has not officially been actively involved in any war since 1814)

Soon, Sweden's ruling class and all major parties made it clear that they wanted Finland, a country next to Russia and ruled by a ruling coalition led by the Social Democrats, to be in some way a stepping stone to NATO, and that the Finnish government should Sweden and Finland were the first to announce their intention to join NATO.

As the Swedish Daily Express reported on April 11: “Finance Minister Mikael Damberg and a number of Swedish business leaders, including Jacob Wallenberg, met in Helsinki last week with the Finnish President and Finnish businesses, together, attended a high-level leadership meeting on NATO. The Swedish government did not release any information about the meeting, and the message to the Swedish government was clear: Sweden should support Finland, and if we do not join NATO, the ability to attract foreign investment may be will be negatively affected.”

Sharp shift in public sentiment

After Russia invaded Ukraine, support for joining NATO in Finland soared to an all-time high. As a direct consequence of the war, most Finns began to support joining NATO. A week after the war, a poll showed that for the first time a majority (53%, almost double the number a month earlier) of Finns favoured joining NATO, and after three weeks of war support for joining NATO has risen to 62 %, while 16% disapprove. In Sweden, sentiment has also changed, but at a much slower pace. After two months of war, in late April, opinion polls showed a majority backing Sweden's membership in NATO, but 64 percent of Swedes surveyed said they were in favor of joining if Finland were to join NATO.

Within weeks, all political parties in Finland came out in support of joining NATO. The left-wing coalition in the government, which has traditionally opposed Finland's entry into any military alliance, pretends to still be against it, but the party's leadership is already in favour of joining NATO. The left-wing coalition said when it joined the government in 2019 that it would leave if it submitted an application to join NATO, but in early May this year they finally decided not to leave the government, and when Congress voted on the application to join NATO, the majority of the party MPs still voted in favour.

The government, the right-wing opposition and capitalists took advantage of this temporary shift in sentiment with unprecedented propaganda, claiming that after Ukraine, Finland and Sweden could be next targeted by Russia. At the same time, the leaders of Western imperialism have promised that there will be a "fast track" for applications (to join NATO). The reasons for Finland and Sweden joining NATO are mainly political, but of course there are also military reasons. Russia currently shares a 1,215-kilometer land border with NATO members. This will increase to 2,600 km once Finland joins.

But as Harry Nedelcu, a NATO expert and policy director at Rasmussen Global, an international political consultancy, told DW: "The first message that these countries join NATO is that Political and against Russia. Second, for NATO, it's all about the real military capabilities that Finland and Sweden can offer. While the rest of Europe was gradually reducing their military capabilities after the Cold War, Finland and Sweden has been building up their military capabilities, which can bring a lot of benefits to the alliance."

Sweden and Finland are already major NATO partners. But membership not only marks the highest degree of close cooperation, it is also a qualitative change that completes a systemic shift in bourgeois foreign and national security policy. Sweden and Finland are joining a military alliance that has relied on U.S. imperialist strategic nuclear weapons from the start. The U.S. ruling class should also have "absolute control" over nuclear weapons, according to NATO. This marks a historic change.

All claims that joining NATO is "conflict avoidance" (as Swedish foreign minister Ann Linde put it) and can be combined with disarmament and opposition to nuclear weapons are false. Quite the contrary; the governments of Sweden and Finland, preparing to join NATO, agreed with NATO governments to refuse to ratify the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which has been ratified by 60 governments. The treaty did not stop the arms race and nuclear weapons, but the reason why the Swedish Social Democratic government refused to sign it was to please NATO and US imperialism. It was reported as early as 2017 that then-U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis warned Sweden that if the country signed the U.N. treaty banning nuclear weapons, the country would face reduced military cooperation with the U.S. and make it harder to attack in the event of an attack. Risk of getting U.S. aid.

Military spending soars

Swedish Prime Minister Andersson declared: "Sweden remains a strong voice in support of global disarmament."

But disarmament is a position that the Social Democrats have long abandoned.

Instead, they are on the same front as the right, speaking out for rearmament, fully supporting and participating in NATO's war effort.

Sweden's arms exports have grown more than fivefold since the early 2000s. The biggest buyer is the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the Saudi-led Yemen war coalition.

It is a well-documented fact that Swedish-made weapons were used in this war led by Saudi Arabia, backed by US imperialism.

The more positive the government is about joining NATO, the more it will spend on the military.

One of the government's shock moves was the decision in March to increase military spending to 2 percent of GDP, the minimum NATO requirement, with the support of all parliamentary parties, including the Left Party.

But even before that, the government had embarked on its largest military expansion in modern times. In total, defense spending increased by 85 percent between 2014 and 2025.

As Dagens Nyheter wrote on March 10: "Before today's announcement, Congress had decided that defense spending would be gradually increased until 2025. In the plan, defense spending would be increased from 2021 increase from SEK 71 billion to SEK 94 billion in 2025. The share of spending at that time will be equivalent to 1.5% of GDP. Raising spending to 2% of GDP means the defense budget in 2028 will reach SEK 127 billion , while the planned defense budget for the year is SEK 90.3 billion."

This massive remilitarization would mean another cut in social benefits, another excuse to delay action on climate change, and another tax burden on ordinary people.

In addition, more young people will be forced into military service, joining NATO military arrangements and war operations.

No matter how many times you repeat the lie that "the armament of war today will ensure peace tomorrow", it will never come true.

Global military expansion is making the world a more dangerous place and increasing the risk of war.

Before the Ukraine war, both Russia and NATO countries were engaged in remilitarization expansion, and after the Ukraine war, Eastern Europe and the Baltic region became more militarized than ever.

Europe is in its most insecure period since 1945.

Joining NATO means that Sweden will carry out more military expansion for NATO in Eastern Europe and the Baltic region, which will lead to rising tensions and increased risk of war, but also as Sweden's "Daily News" wrote on May 14, once joining NATO, the Swedish army is expected to play a role in war preparations immediately.

“In addition to the geostrategic situation, Sweden also has other factors of interest to other NATO members. In particular the Swedish Air Force is highlighted as an important addition to the Nordics. The Swedish Wehrmacht has more than 90 JAS 39 Gripen fighters, making it an important part of the Nordic region. largest air force."

“The Baltic states do not have their own air force in principle, so they are looking to how the Swedish Air Force can strengthen the air power in the region. Similarly, they are also concerned about the role of the navy and naval special forces. The Swedish submarine force is regarded as the world's One of the most elite in the world can strengthen the relatively weak parts of the Baltic region."

The Swedish Defence Force also pointed out: "Based on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, the Swedish army can dominate the Baltic Sea and control sea and air traffic." But in the case of joining NATO in the future, Swedish forces can also play an important role in northern Europe.

In exchange for backing Sweden and Finland to join NATO, Turkish President Erdoğan wants arms, money and even more support in the war against Kurds and the opposition, and the Swedish government says it Be prepared to meet his requirements to a certain extent.

Or as well-known Kurdish activist Kurdo Baksi clearly warned in Expressen on May 16: “The Kurds risk paying a heavy and bloody price for Sweden and Finland joining NATO. "

The conditions for Erdogan and the ambitious Turkish regime to support Sweden and Finland in joining NATO include, for example, the extradition of Kurds and other opposition figures, and the closure of Kurdish premises.

This again shatters the myth that NATO is the guardian of democracy.

false assurance

A common argument in favor of joining NATO is: "If we join NATO, we won't be alone if the Russians invade."

It is this so-called argument that permeates the "security analysis" commissioned by the government and the right-wing opposition to give the green light to joining NATO.

But it is almost unimaginable for a foreign power to attack a non-aligned Sweden.

Joining NATO, on the other hand, implies an obligation to train, equip and participate in any war in which any other NATO country would be drawn into it.

The closer Sweden is to NATO, the more Sweden is involved in military operations, such as NATO's 20-year war in Afghanistan and the bombing war on Libya.

How will peace be facilitated if Sweden is also under NATO's nuclear umbrella?

As Rolf Ekéus, former Swedish ambassador to the US and head of the UN’s weapons inspection programme in Iraq, summed it up: “The only real threat to Sweden’s security is great power conflict in Europe and our surrounding regions. Joining NATO means We will be a direct party to the conflict."

Supporting NATO membership, the Social Democrats argue that they will work to promote "unilateral opposition to the deployment of nuclear weapons and permanent military bases on Swedish soil" - a reference to the fact that both Denmark and Norway are said to have been given the opportunity not to deploy nuclear weapons on their soil guarantees, as well as not having to set up foreign garrison bases.

Swedish media Dagens Arena said on May 11: "But these guarantees are no longer valid. Two years ago, the Norwegian government agreed that northern Norway and other places can be used as bases, and the US rules will apply. The Danish government has decided to allow The establishment of a foreign base on Bornholm."

Even NATO supporters argue that even if Sweden is assured in peacetime not to house nuclear weapons, this does not apply in crisis and war situations. And, as a NATO member, as one of Sweden's NATO ally put it: "We have to expect, for example, that nuclear-armed US ships can dock in Swedish ports".

The interests of capitalism and imperialism

CNN reported on May 10 that U.S. imperialism especially welcomes Finland and Sweden to join NATO because, among other reasons, "it will also expand NATO's influence from northern Europe to the Arctic, a region due to its Natural resources, strategic location and many territorial disputes are becoming increasingly important geopolitically.”

Swedish capitalism, especially the country's war industry, expects to make more profits from the market opened up by Sweden's accession to NATO.

The Ukrainian war and the government's stance on agreeing to join NATO sent arms maker Saab's stock up 80% in value.

A joint statement by the Swedish and Finnish Enterprise Confederations concluded that NATO is good for business.

NATO is an imperialist military alliance, which was established mainly to serve the interests of American capitalism and to unite Western countries to confront their opponents on the world stage. Since the main opponent of US imperialism is China, NATO is also preparing to Its military operations turned to the Indo-Pacific region and China.

This means that, with the active participation of the Swedish government, an escalation of imperial power struggles and military expansion - which has already led to war in Ukraine now, and may plunge the world into war in the future.

We stand for:

• Opposes Sweden and Finland joining NATO.
• Both against Putin and against NATO - against all imperialist forces.
• What we need is social welfare, not more arms spending.
• Stop arms exports. The general industry was nationalized and democratically controlled and managed by the workers. Convert industries that earn war money into civilian production.
• Global struggle against imperialist plunder and militarism. Immediate disarmament and a ban on nuclear weapons. Build a mass movement against war, terror and violence - fight for the socialist world.