Ulf Kristersson is right - our freedom is at stake

 

 

Lena Mellin  

 

Kristersson is actually right  

Our freedom is at stake if Russia wins the war  

 

Published: Less than 2 hours ago  

 

This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's. 

 

COLUMNISTS  

 

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is right.  

 

What we are going through now is the worst since World War II.  

 

Our freedom is at stake if Russia wins the war against Ukraine.  

 

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) stands for one of the week's most noticed statements. After the first meeting with the new National Security Council, he said:  

 

- This is the worst thing we have experienced since the Second World War. 

 

 He also said: 

 

- Everyone in Sweden must realize the seriousness of the situation.  

 

Two fateful statements. Clearly serious.  

 

But unfortunately, the remarkable announcements were left hanging in the air as the press conference had an unclear focus. Serious situation, slow NATO process and Swedish provocations against Islam, what was Ulf Kristersson so concerned about?  

 

What I think, and hope, Kristersson was talking about is the following. And it is, and has been, very, very serious for more than a year. 

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M). Photo: Lotte Fernvall  

 

On December 17, 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov presented a legally binding agreement that would prevent NATO from expanding eastward. Russia wanted to return to the order that prevailed during the Cold War and to have a buffer zone between itself and NATO. It would be forbidden to receive the troops of a foreign power on its own territory, Russia would decide on that as well. The rules would include Sweden and Finland, but also Ukraine. 

 

The capricious demands did not come like a bolt from the blue. Russia had already moved 100,000 men to the border with Ukraine. During an OSCE meeting in Stockholm earlier that month, Lavrov had made similar demands at a bilateral meeting with his American colleague Anthony Blinken. 

 

What this means, from a Western point of view, is that Russia must not win its large-scale war of aggression against Ukraine that was launched back in 2014 when they seized the Crimean peninsula. It is not on the map.  

 

Losing Ukraine is unfortunately only the first bite for Russia. Other countries they consider to be in their sphere of interest will follow suit. Where the limit of Vladimir Putin's territorial ambitions lies is not possible to know. 

 

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Ilya Pitalev / AP  

 

It is against this background that the generosity towards Ukraine should be seen. They have already received weapons worth billions as a gift. There is more to come, including state-of-the-art tanks. Several countries, among them Sweden, have scrapped old rules about never contributing weapons to belligerent countries.  

 

Therefore, Ulf Kristersson is right. This is the worst thing we've been through, in terms of security policy, since World War II. The freedom of countries, including Sweden, is at stake. That's how terrible it is. 

 

But marginally, the situation for us, in Sweden, is somewhat better today than it was on February 24 last year when Ukraine was invaded by Russia. In addition to being an "invitee", invited to become a member of NATO, we have bilateral defense guarantees from several countries. Including the USA and Great Britain with two of NATO's largest reserve powers.  

 

This is what Prime Minister Kristersson means when he talks about the worst situation since the Second World War. 

 

It is troublesome that a Sunni Muslim university is calling for a boycott of Swedish goods for the hanging Erdogan doll. It is also troublesome that the Turkish president suggests that Swedish membership in NATO is finished and that Swedish flags are being burned in Istanbul and Ankara. 

 

But compared to the fact that Russia wants to dictate Swedish foreign and security policy, to take over decision-making rights over our national freedom, it is actually nothing.