Sweden is ready to receive nuclear weapons on its territory in case of war, the Swedish Prime Minister declared.

Ulf Kristersson, in his statement to Swedish public radio, justified the decision by saying that in case of war, depending on the situation, they should review their position regarding the placement of weapons, because "the democratic Nordic countries must be able to defend themselves against countries that have nuclear weapons even in the event of the worst-case scenario." they threaten to use weapons".

He added: "Sweden reserves the right to decide on such a matter alone."

He also explained: "Sweden recently joined NATO precisely to prevent such a scenario from occurring in reality."

In June, the Swedish parliament will vote on a defense cooperation agreement with the United States, which would grant the American party permission to land planes and place weapons and military equipment.

At the same time, Swedish pro-peace organizations asked the government to include in the treaty a ban on the storage of nuclear weapons on Swedish territory. The government replied that this is not necessary because there is already a consensus on this issue in the country, and the parliament had previously decided that nuclear weapons cannot be stored on Swedish soil in peacetime.

MTI

Front page image: Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden holding the office of President of the European Union, speaks at the opening of the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on January 17, 2023.
On January 1, Sweden took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from the Czech Republic for six months. MTI/EPA/Julien Warnand