Washington —
Sweden, which dropped its position of military nonalignment and sought NATO membership in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, is now one vote away from joining the alliance as its 32nd member.
On Wednesday, Henrik Landerholm, Sweden’s national security adviser, met with VOA in Washington to discuss his country’s imminent membership and his perspectives on security challenges facing the alliance in 2024.
In Landerholm’s view, if Russia prevails in its war against Ukraine, its appetite will only increase, resulting in greater security threats for a much wider region.
Landerholm said he was grateful for America’s strong support for Swedish NATO membership and is pleased the process now seems to be coming to a close. Hungary is the sole remaining NATO ally yet to ratify Swedish membership, and its National Assembly has indicated it intends to vote soon.
According to Landerholm, there is nothing left to negotiate; it is just a matter of waiting for Hungary’s ratification.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The Turkish parliament voted yesterday to approve Sweden’s NATO membership. How does it feel and what does this mean for Sweden?
It definitely feels good. It's a confirmation that we have been on the right path and that Turkey is fulfilling its obligations — what they promised in the agreement between President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and Prime Minister [Ulf] Kristersson in Vilnius [Lithuania] last year. We haven't doubted that this would happen, but of course it's a good day when it happens.
And now the next step is for the president to sign the decision. Do you anticipate any complications?
We don't anticipate [complications] other than that it's a formality. It has to be published in the official Gazette, and then President Erdogan has to [deposit] the instruments in the State Department, as is stated in the Washington Treaty. Then, of course, the next step is Hungarian ratification. We will see what will happen.
Prime Minister [Viktor] Orban said he is inviting Prime Minister Kristersson to Budapest to negotiate. Do we know what he wants to negotiate?
Well, to quote my foreign minister, there is not much to negotiate. In the very kind and open letter he sent to my prime minister, [Orban] suggests a visit to Budapest, and I foresee that this will happen sooner or later. We should remember that Hungary invited Sweden [to join] NATO without any preconditions, which is a very different situation [from] Turkey, which had security concerns linked mainly to Swedish and Finnish approaches toward terrorism. We've been working with … Turkish authorities on that for about a year. With Hungary, I believe it's more of a general need to have a dialogue. We are open to such a dialogue but have noticed no preconditions or need for negotiation.
The U.S. has been very supportive of Sweden throughout this process. How was the news received here?
Very positive — even relief — from the U.S. side. Sweden has had strong support from the U.S. from the beginning. Sweden and Finland are more welcomed as NATO members than we ever perceived before. Speaking for Sweden, our understanding was that when Russia ... showed itself to be a predator without limits with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we needed to safeguard our own security. The general feeling was that we were on the demanding side, needing support from NATO.
[But the U.S.] was very clear that we were not only welcome due to the general Open Door policy, but that we would create an important addition to NATO. Over the last year, we have understood that our contributions are appreciated. We have assets that are pretty unique in the Baltics. We have military assets that few others have. Our force may not be overwhelming in size, but in quality it is second to few. We have an impressive defense industry. We have space assets, and our territory is of utmost importance for the defense of Finland and the Baltic States.
There was a perception about Turkey’s position on Swedish NATO membership that it was never about Sweden or the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party, considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union] but about F-16s. Turkey wanted the U.S. to agree on the sale of F-16s in exchange for its consent to admit Sweden as a NATO member. What can you share with us about this debate?