French President Emmanuel Macron wants a common European nuclear strategy – and the Swedish Christian Democrats, led by MEP Alice Teodorescu Måwe, wholeheartedly support the proposal.
In short, Macron's strategy calls for the European nations that already possess nuclear weapons (the UK and France) to strengthen and develop them further with funding and help from other European countries. The stated reason is that Europe needs to be able to defend itself without American interference.
This week, Volodymyr Zelensky was scolded after remarks at the White House and Donald Trump accused Ukraine's leaders of "gambling with the lives of millions of people, and gambling with World War III".
– You’re either going to make a deal, or we’re out, the president warned, and it is against the backdrop of that meeting that the Swedish Christian Democrat leader now believes that Europe must instead focus on developing its own nuclear arsenal.
– My conviction has only strengthened after what we saw in the White House on Friday. It was both surreal and sad to witness but we cannot sit back now. It is clear that Europe needs more autonomy and independence to be able to defend our continent and our citizens, she argues in the tabloid Aftonbladet.
"Deterrence" through nuclear weapons
Once again, it is the vaguely defined "rules-based world order" that needs to be protected and, according to the KD top, it is high time for Europe to arm up.
– Even if it is under sad and dangerous circumstances, it is healthy that we look after our own house. It is regrettable that we did not do it earlier.
Asked whether there is a risk that a new nuclear strategy could make Europe dependent on France and the UK in the same way it has been dependent on the US in the past, she says there are crucial differences.
– The significant difference is that Europe is the first to be attacked by Russia. France and the UK have a very different geographical proximity and perceive the threat in a way that the US does not.
"Europe also needs to be prepared to take greater responsibility for securing a common European strategic deterrent in the form of nuclear capabilities. How this should be done in practice needs to be analyzed and discussed in detail", she and two party colleagues elaborate in a debate article in Dagens Industri.
Left party: "Ill-considered proposal"
One solution proposed by the Christian Democrats is for the EU to fund research and development of French and British nuclear weapons – but it is not yet clear how a common nuclear weapons strategy should be developed, how many nuclear weapons should be produced or in which countries they should be deployed.
"France and the UK already hold the European nuclear capability in their hands. Can they consider including it in the puzzle that needs to be put together to further strengthen NATO's European legs and build options for the future?", the KD politicians write.
However, not everyone is enthusiastic about the proposal. Left Party MEP Jonas Sjöstedt calls the proposal "ill-considered" and argues that Sweden should rather focus on terminating the DCA agreement with the US, which gives US military access to Swedish military bases.
– Our own defense capability can instead be strengthened with, for example, deeper Nordic cooperation and other cooperation with like-minded countries. But some kind of EU nuclear weapons seems like an ill-considered proposal. Nuclear weapons policy is a national issue and I don't think the Swedish people want it either, he says.
