MOSCOW, January 24 Agreeing to Sweden's membership in NATO , Turkey is resolving issues of its internal policy, it remains to be regretted that Ankara is not acting in the interests of all humanity, but of an individual bloc, Vice-Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev wrote in his Telegram channel.
«The Turkish Parliament voted for Sweden in NATO. And if this is not another game on the part of (Turkish President Tayyip) Erdogan, the issue on this track has been resolved. Most likely, yes, since for Turkey, permission for Sweden to join the bloc was not an external issue (» what will NATO get from this?”), and internal politics (“what will Turkey get from this?”). Apparently, they got everything they wanted,” Kosachev noted.
Speaking about Sweden as part of the alliance, the senator recalled the words of the ex-chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger that for the admission of any country to NATO three consensuses are required — in the country itself regarding accession, in the alliance on regarding the reception of this country and in the international community that such a step would be for the benefit of regional and global security.
According to the senator, in this case there is none of the listed consensuses. “In Sweden, there was no referendum on the most important issue in the field of security policy, which turned it 180 degrees, despite the demands of the opposition. In NATO, let’s be careful, the range of opinions is also far from consensus, and Hungary has not yet decided,” he explained .
But the main thing is the attitude towards NATO expansion on the part of the international community, Kosachev added. “According to experts (not Russian!), after the Second World War, more than 250 military conflicts occurred in the world, and about 80% of them were the work of the United States and NATO. Almost all of them occurred in the countries of the world majority, outside the competence of NATO. Unlikely “Under such conditions, can we expect applause for NATO expansion from the world majority, what kind of consensus is there,” the politician wrote.
According to him, NATO is the main source of instability in the world and the main generator of new challenges and threats. Even when they are counter to NATO: everyone has the right to protection. “And the NATO countries, by their very existence, destroyed the principle of indivisible security, which seems to be the cornerstone for the OSCE. NATO is the antipode of the OSCE, which multiplied by zero and destroyed this initially useful organization before our eyes,” the senator noted.
According to Kosachev, it remains to be regretted that the once neutral Sweden, which reached the culmination of its authority during the time of Olof Palme (who signed the Helsinki CSCE Act of 1975) as an independent and objective mediator in resolving the most complex international issues, is now acting as a gravedigger of his previously high reputation and, ultimately, of the same Palme’s dream of disarmament and security on a global, not bloc scale.»
Turkey’s upcoming final decision on Sweden’s membership in NATO is also regrettable, he wrote politician. “The historical chance for Turkey to act in the interests of all humanity, and not just a single bloc, will also be missed,” Kosachev concluded.