Nearly six out of ten Swedes believe the country should become a member of NATO. In a new poll, a record 57% said “yes” to membership.
The support for a possible membership in NATO soared by 6% in just one month, the Aftonbladet / Demoskop survey shows. 57% is the largest share in favor of membership since the survey began.
“The upward trend continues. A number as high as 57% is sensational,” Karin Nelsson at Demoskop stated.
The rest of the population is roughly evenly divided between those who want to continue along the non-aligned line (21%) and those who say they do not know (22%).
Arguments
The argument most used to justify joining NATO is that Sweden does not have the capacity to defend itself (64%). Furthermore, 43% believe NATO has a deterrent effect, while 39% believe Sweden belongs among the other NATO countries.
The most important counter-argument was that a Swedish NATO membership could provoke Russia (38%).
The survey includes 1,177 interviews. It was conducted between April 14 and 19.
In both Sweden and Finland, a political process has been launched in the wake of the war in Ukraine, which could lead to the countries applying for NATO membership before the Alliance’s summit in June.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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So the Nordic Balance – Scandinavian military neutrality – is to be discarded?
Now what is this agreement SV is so concerned about?
Nettavisen article: “SV sier nei til forsvarsavtale med USA:
Støre-regjeringen må gå til høyresiden for å få flertall i Stortinget for den nye tilleggsavtalen med USA om forsvarssamarbeid.”
Would we be able to start a (nuclear) war with Russia and use bases in Norway for that without Norwegian approval?
And would U.S. personnel no longer be subject to Norwegian law even off-base?