Off the wire
• China's panda pair to leave for ROK  • SGC countries vow to promote Southern Gas Corridor project  • Six Al-Shabaab suspects arrested over twin blasts in Somalia  • Mainland's Taiwan affairs chief meets business leaders  • BRICS countries stress right to development as core to 2030 Agenda  • Algeria, IAEA discuss nuclear energy cooperation  • China holds Women's Day gathering  • Sweden's annual economic growth beats forecasts  • 24 jailed over billion-dollar fraud in China  • China toughens control over guns, explosives  
You are here: 　 Home

Swedish defense deal with NATO should apply in wartime: gov't

Xinhua, March 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Swedish government wants an agreement to let NATO troops train in the Nordic country during peacetime to remain in effect in the event of war, local media reported on Monday.

The 2014 agreement with Finland, a NATO member country, should also be applicable during armed conflict, the government stated in a proposal put before the Council on Legislation, daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported.

"It is important that we are at the same level in defense policy and defense cooperation as Finland," Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist told the newspaper.

The Swedish government stressed in its proposal that while the country should not enter formal alliances, it is important that Sweden be able to "give and receive military support," the newspaper reported.

Hultqvist stressed that the agreement would not compromise Sweden's sovereignty on issues of defense.

"Nuclear weapons may not be placed on Swedish territory. Sweden has for decades clearly pointed this out to the rest of the world," read the proposal, due to be adopted into law on July 1.

Sweden remained neutral during the Second World War and opted not to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) when it was founded in 1949. Endit