Soltz: ‘The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO will be completed very quickly’

Chancellor Olaf Solz today expressed his belief that all NATO member states will “very quickly” complete the process of ratifying the accession of Sweden and Finland, while Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson assured that her country will adhere to the terms of the relevant memorandum it has signed with Turkey. Regarding the energy crisis, the two leaders said they were confident that the member states of the European Union, in the event of a shortage, would show solidarity.

“I am sure that now (ratification) will proceed very quickly (…) The seven countries that have not ratified membership will do so soon,” Mr. Soltz said during a joint press conference with Ms. Andersson in Stockholm. , however, did not want to mention a specific date. “We will abide by the memorandum we reached with Turkey regarding our country’s accession to NATO,” assured the Swedish Prime Minister for her part. However, the two leaders described the decision of Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance as “historic”. “It’s a step in the right direction and will strengthen the Alliance on its northern border. It’s important because you can’t be sure that things will stay as they are, Russia is trying to redraw the borders,” pointed out Olaf Solz and reiterated the commitment of NATO countries to continue to support Ukraine militarily.

Asked whether Ukrainian forces could use German and Swedish weapons to retake Crimea, the two leaders appeared united. “The weapons provided are there for Ukraine to defend its territory,” Mr. Soltz said, only for Ms. Anderson to agree with him, noting that the weapons “can be used to defend territory.” The EU has condemned the annexation of Crimea and has not recognized the region as Russian territory, but recently Deputy Chairman of Russia’s National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev called Crimea a “red line”.

On the issue of energy, Olaf Solz and McDalena Andersson stressed the importance of expanding bilateral cooperation in the energy transition effort and specifically referred to the development of electrification and battery production. The two leaders earlier today visited a factory of Scania – which is now a subsidiary of Volkswagen – and were informed about the ideas of climate-friendly methods of electrifying heavy vehicles.

Asked about the use of nuclear energy, Olaf Solz however avoided answering whether the production of electricity from nuclear power plants should be increased again. “Each country will make its own decisions. Germany will follow the path of massive expansion of renewable energy sources. We have already increased our pace for this in order to guarantee the country’s energy security,” he said and emphasized the need, in in any case, to limit dependence on fossil fuels. “The current political situation makes this goal even more imperative,” he added, while appearing confident that, in the event of energy supply problems, EU countries will support each other. “Germany is currently producing electricity from natural gas, which neighboring EU countries urgently need,” he said indicatively. Previously, in an interview with the Swedish Dagens Nyheter, Mr. Solz had emphasized that even if the energy mix is ​​a national issue of each country, the cooperation of the countries is absolutely necessary. “The federal government is not only responsible for Germany’s power supply, but also for its neighbors,” he noted. In the coming days, the results of the “stress-tests” carried out between the energy companies will be available, and based on them the federal government will decide its next steps.

On the other hand, Magdalena Andersson stated that Sweden wants to use nuclear energy in the long term, but does not want, she clarified, to build new plants.