"A Historic Mistake": Swedish Peace Activist Decries Move to Join NATO & Abandon Neutrality

Jul 11, 2023 | Sweden will soon join NATO after over a year of negotiations with Turkey over its bid for accession to the transatlantic military alliance. Turkey’s right-wing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had staunchly opposed Sweden’s bid due to the country’s strong presence of Kurdish exiles, including members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey considers a “terrorist” organization. Erdoğan attributed his unexpected change of heart to Turkey’s own bid to join the European Union, which has been stalled for years, suggesting he will open the doors to Sweden in NATO if Turkey is in turn granted entry to the EU. We hear from Swedish peace activist Kerstin Bergeå in Stockholm, who says the decision to join NATO has lacked sufficient public debate in the country and who calls the move “a historic mistake.” Bergeå is president of the 140-year-old Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society, one of the oldest peace groups in the world.

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