Swedish flag in Stockholm. Archive photoMOSCOW, May 7.The head of the Swedish Green Party, Marta Stenevy, believes that Sweden should not join NATO even if Finland does. «No, we don't think so,» Stenevy said in an interview with Swedish Radio when asked if Sweden should join to the alliance. According to Stenevy, the Green Party «closely followed the debate in Finland and the position of Finland» on the issue of joining NATO. «We weigh this in our analysis, but as I see it, this will not affect our negative position towards NATO,» Stenevy said, adding that Sweden should «be able to choose defense partners.» The head of the party believes that the issue about NATO should be discussed during the election campaign and should be decided after the parliamentary elections in September.The United States guarantees the security of Sweden and Finland for the period of joining NATO On Wednesday, the SVT channel, citing the press secretary of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Sweden, Tobias Baudin, said that the party could decide on joining NATO as early as May 15. On Tuesday, the same channel reported that not everyone in the ruling party in Sweden agrees with the prospect of the country's possible entry into NATO. For example, the Minister for Climate and Environment, a member of the Social Democratic Party and the chairman of the women's wing of the party, Annika Strandhell, does not consider it expedient for Sweden to join the North Atlantic Alliance. Finland and Sweden started talking about the possibility of abandoning many years of neutrality and joining NATO against the background of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The head of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, noted that the alliance would be glad to see Finland and Sweden in its ranks and provide them with the opportunity to quickly join. NATO expects these countries to make their own decisions about possible membership in the coming «months and weeks,» US Permanent Representative to NATO Julianne Smith said. She added that the United States would welcome the accession of these countries to the alliance. Russia has repeatedly noted that NATO is aimed at confrontation. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov stated that further expansion of the alliance would not bring greater security to Europe, NATO has an aggressive character. At the same time, he noted that he did not consider the possible entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO an existential threat to Russia.
