The bribery charge against

Bob Menendez and money seized from his home. TT.  

 

The bribery charge against 

Menendez Blackmailed the Democrat on the demands: "I'm not going anywhere"  

 

The bribery-accused Democratic senator Bob Menendez does not intend to resign, he says in a statement according to American media. He describes it as "powers behind the scenes" trying to silence him for years. 

 

"Those behind this campaign simply cannot accept that a first-generation immigrant from Latin America with a modest background could become a US senator," he said in the statement.  

 

Bob Menendez, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is accused, among other things, of having received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. Several Democrats are calling for his resignation. But those demands are not heeded by Menendez. 

  

"I'm not going anywhere," he says in his statement.

 

Ulf Kristersson, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Jens Stoltenberg at the NATO summit in Vilnius earlier this summer/gold bars that were found at the home of the accused Nadine and Bob Menendez. TT  

 

NATO process Sweden's application  

Analysis: Bribery scandal could be an opening in the NATO process  

 

In Sweden's imagination, everything is already done and done with NATO - but that is not the case, notes Jenny Nordberg in SvD. On the contrary, she wonders if it is not time for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) to look around for other alternatives instead of just waiting for Turkey's vague promises.  

 

Among other things, she highlights the need to strengthen Sweden's own reserves and capabilities and start negotiating with one country at a time - with agreements written down on paper.  

 

DN's Karin Eriksson, on the other hand, sees a possible improvement. She writes that the Swedish NATO process may lose a brake pad if the bribery-accused Democratic senator Bob Menendez resigns as chairman of the foreign affairs committee. Because of his role, he has blocked the F16 deal with Turkey, which is unofficially seen as a crucial part of the game for Swedish membership.

 

I Sveriges fantasi är allt redan klappat och klart med Nato – men så är inte fallet, konstaterar Jenny Nordberg i SvD. Tvärtom frågar hon sig om det inte börjar bli dags för statsminister Ulf Kristersson (M) att se sig om efter andra alternativ istället för att bara gå och vänta på Turkiets vaga löften.

Bland annat lyfter hon behovet av att förstärka Sveriges egna förråd och förmågor samt börja förhandla med ett land i taget – med överenskommelser nedskrivna på papper.

DN:s Karin Eriksson däremot ser en eventuell ljusning. Hon skriver att den svenska Natoprocessen kan förlora en bromskloss om den mutåtalade demokratiske senatorn Bob Menendez avgår som utrikesutskottets ordförande. Han har nämligen genom sin roll blockerat F16-affären med Turkiet, som inofficiellt ses som en avgörande del av spelet för det svenska medlemskapet.