Sweden open to hosting nuclear weapons in wartime: Prime minister

LONDON

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Monday he was open to allowing US nuclear weapons on Swedish soil in wartime, local media reported.

Kristersson’s comments come at the time when the country’s parliament is scheduled to vote in June on the government's bill on a military cooperation agreement with the US.

The so-called DCA agreement gives the American military the right to use 17 Swedish military bases across the country and allowing the storage of military equipment and weapons in the Scandinavian country.

The agreement has been criticized because, unlike in Denmark and Norway, it lacks information about a ban on nuclear weapons in Sweden. The government believes it is not necessary because there is a parliamentary decision that there should be no nuclear weapons on Swedish territory in peacetime.

However, Kristersson also believes having nuclear weapons in the event of war in Sweden should be considered.

“In a war situation, it is a completely different matter. Should the very worst happen, the democratic countries in our part of the world must of course be able to defend themselves against countries that could threaten with nuclear weapons,” he said in an interview with Swedish Radio.

“Our entire NATO membership and our entire Swedish defense aim is to prevent that situation from occurring.

“If Ukraine had been a member of NATO, they would not have been attacked by Russia,” Kristersson said.

Sweden has officially joined NATO on March 7, ending decades of neutrality after a nearly two-year wait that began in May 2022, when the Nordic country submitted its application to join Western military alliance alongside neighboring Finland.

The prime minister emphasized that the decision to place nuclear weapons on Swedish soil would be taken by Sweden, not the US.

“Sweden decides over Swedish territory,” he said.