Sweden is in the process of joining NATO. It has also signed an unprecedented bilateral agreement with the United States that will, in effect, paint a huge target on the Nordic nation’s forehead. If push comes to shove between NATO and Russia over Ukraine, Sweden may end up as a radioactive wasteland where it might otherwise have been left alone.
Many thanks to our Swedish correspondent LN for translating this op-ed from Aftonbladet:
Sweden has voluntarily submitted to the USA
Commentary by Jan Guillou
February 25, 2024
The defence agreement between Sweden and the US introduces American supremacy.
It looks like Sweden must have gone to war with the US and lost. At least when you read the latest defence agreement between our government and the US. It introduces American sovereignty in Sweden.
Of course, this is not the picture conveyed by the media. From Rapport’s coverage I only remember pictures of a happy little Swedish defence minister and a grumpy giant American defence minister (Minister of Defence Pål Jonson and US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin) signing the secret agreement, as if it were just another routine agreement. It is not. It is unique in our history and incomprehensibly far-reaching. It is about total submission.
The very beginning of the text of the agreement states that the US will have “unrestricted access to and use of agreed facilities and areas.”
And what are these agreed facilities and areas? They are listed on page 37. These are all of Sweden’s air force flotillas and all major army installations, a total of 17 listed. In practice, this is the entire Swedish defence where the US will have “unrestricted”, i.e. unlimited power.
On unspecified defence installations, certain areas will also be cordoned off where “only US forces will have access to and use” and where US jurisdiction will apply. But not only that. “Upon request”, the US will have access to and use of private land and assets, including roads, harbours and airports.
The US also gets the right to freely develop “areas and facilities” to store weapons and defence equipment. There are no exceptions for types of weapons, not even nuclear weapons (Article 14). The parties “may consult on the above to the extent necessary”.
Subsequently, a large number of pages list the rights and entitlements of US soldiers stationed in Sweden.
U.S. personnel in Sweden, their family members and civilian employees, shall be granted passport and visa exemption; U.S. military identification shall apply instead; Swedish security police shall not control [stop/search] or monitor U.S. personnel; all cars owned by serving Americans shall be equipped with Swedish licence plates, which shall not be traceable, all American personnel shall be exempt from tax, even from VAT on their purchases, and shall enjoy full exemption from customs duties on all goods they wish to bring into or out of the country, including currency without restriction; American aircraft shall be free to use Swedish airspace, just as American shipping uses Swedish territorial waters.