Opinion by Maria Zakharova, Russian MFA Spokeswoman
After all, there is no national consensus behind Stockholm’s decision to join NATO. [...] The Swedish media conveniently did NOT publish any opinion polls in the run-up to the “historic decision,” either. [...]
Clearly, much has changed in Sweden over the past 100 years since the first referendum was held in the 20th century, and democracy is now in short supply. Crimea, which Ann Linde considers undemocratic, held a referendum, and the people made their choice. There was a referendum in the Soviet Union. In the Russian Federation, a vote was held on constitutional amendments. However, Sweden, which decided to overhaul its 200-year-old security policy, didn’t hold any. Why? The answer is clear. If you take a look at the latest polls, the growth in the number of people who are willing to “march in step with Brussels and Washington” (and spend 2 percent of GDP on defence, which is NATO-approved defence spending minimum) has slowed significantly. According to a poll conducted by Demoskop and Aftonbladet on April 19, 2022 – more recent data is not available for obvious reasons – hardly more than half of Swedes are interested in joining NATO. To put it bluntly, every second Swede understands the morass their American “friends” are dragging Stockholm into.
Speaking of “friends,” it is notable that US senators were visiting Stockholm on the day the “historic” decision was announced. Not rank-and-file congressmen, but leader of the Senate Republicans Mitch McConnell. Sweden has not yet joined the Alliance, but the Americans are already dictating to the Swedish authorities what to say to their people. And this is just a demo of what is in store for them. More than 200 years of neutrality, which guaranteed the Kingdom’s security and prosperity, are now history. So why wasn’t there a referendum? Just because no one has been consulting Swedish public’s opinion on anything for a long time now. The Americans call the shots for the Swedes.
"Nous marchons vers la guerre comme des somnambules", pour Henri Guaino 💬 Le soutien d'Emmanuel Macron à l'entrée de la Finlande et de la Suède dans l'Otan "n'est pas une erreur, c'est une faute". "On n'aurait jamais dû pratiquer la politique de la porte ouverte avec l'Otan. Jamais, l'Otan était une organisation dirigée contre l'Union soviétique, le pacte de Varsovie. On en a fait, hélas, une organisation antirusse. [...] Je ne suis pas sûr qu'elle menace directement la Russie, mais la Russie le perçoit comme comme une menace."