In a recent statement, quoted by Samnytt.se, but largely ignored by mainstream media, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson explained that Sweden is ready to part with its decades-long opposition to nuclear weapons on Swedish soil:
In his speech at the press conference on Thursday [October 20th], Kristersson came clear and explained that there will be no obstacles to placing nuclear weapons in Sweden. “We will act in accordance with the obligations that come with our [NATO] membership—including NATO’s nuclear weapons doctrine.”
Sweden has actively opposed nuclear weapons within its borders since signing the UN-negotiated Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1968. However, in 2021 the Swedish government gave a hint of policy changes to come when it decided to not sign the new TPNW, Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
On October 26th, Newsweek reported that Finland is also ready to abandon its opposition to harboring nuclear weapons:
In a move that could risk infuriating Russia, nuclear weapons could be positioned in Finland if the country’s application to join NATO is approved … [Defense] sources said Finland’s foreign and defense ministers, Pekka Haavisto and Antti Kaikkonen, gave a “commitment” to NATO in July that they wouldn’t seek “restrictions or national reservations” if Helsinki’s application is accepted.
To date, the Nordic region has officially been a nuclear-weapons-free zone. Denmark, which became a NATO member in 1949, entered an agreement with the United States in the 1950s to host nuclear-ready weapons on its soil, with the nuclear warheads stored just south of the Danish-German border.
Norway, which is also a NATO member, has followed the same line as Denmark and kept nuclear weapons off its soil. However, in a recent vote in the United Nations, they followed the Swedish government’s earlier decision not to ratify the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, possibly signaling a shift in their ban on said weapons on Norwegian soil.
