MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th March, 2023) Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom on Tuesday pledged not to deploy nuclear weapons in the country after Sweden joins NATO, following the example of other Scandinavian states.
"No, it will not," Billstrom said, responding to a related question from the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
The Swedish government will "follow what the other Nordic countries have said," the minister noted, referring to Norway and Denmark, which, as an exception, also do not host nuclear weapons of any third power, according to the report.
On February 11, Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said that Stockholm was going to pursue a policy aimed at a deeper military integration with NATO amid the country's problematic accession into the alliance.
All NATO allies but Turkey and Hungary have approved and ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland to the bloc. Turkey has accused Stockholm and Helsinki of supporting "terrorists," referring to supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. After a controversial Quran-burning incident in Sweden earlier this year, Turkey asked NATO allies if Finland's application can be approved separately.
