The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Sweden, Mikael Byden, in principle, is not against the deployment of NATO nuclear weapons (probably American, it is unlikely that we were talking about British and French H-bombs) on the territory of his country after its final entry into the North Atlantic Alliance.
He explained: “My advice is very clear: initially no reservations.
Creating unsolvable problems even before we become a member of the alliance only creates obstacles and friction.
And then the politicians will have to make the necessary decisions.”
Here, Sweden intends to imitate its former (until 1809) province: the Finnish government's bill to join NATO allows the alliance to deploy nuclear weapons in Finland.
The fact that today the beautiful Suomi, under the leadership of the young and early prime minister Sanna Marin, has gone off the chain - and not only in matters of nuclear weapons, but on all issues of mutual interest - this is no longer news.
But Sweden is a special article.
The country that last fought in 1814, from then until very recently, that is, for more than two centuries, did not participate in alliances, much less in wars.
It has become self-evident that we say - Sweden, we mean - neutral, we say - neutral, we mean - Sweden.
And suddenly everything changed in the Swedish kingdom.
And it has changed in the most radical way.
And formal members of NATO, especially small states (to which Sweden also belongs), found taste and meaning in the American nuclear umbrella, especially since this made it possible to save heavily on defense.
But as for the direct deployment of American nuclear weapons, they tried to avoid this.
For a very understandable reason.
Launchers of missiles with nuclear warheads on the territory of the country - in which case this is a completely clear target, at least for a retaliatory, at least for a preventive strike.
And also nuclear.
Such a prospect could not but inspire fear.
The fear was especially strong in small countries, for which one bomb would be enough.
Limitrophs, ready to do anything contrary to reason, in defiance of the elements, are already the brainchild of the last time.
Previously, politicians were more cautious.
Moreover, Sweden does not seem to belong - either historically or economically - to the completely reckless limitrophs.
Now, such a resolute readiness from a neutral country to become a launching pad - and, accordingly, the first target - is reminiscent of the proverb "Who does not go crazy in his youth, he will go crazy in old age."
True, the reminder is not entirely accurate.
Once the Swede was quite militant.
In the 17th century (and even earlier) it was quite different in the Russian Northwest.
And also in Germany - the Thirty Years' War became such a nightmare, in no small part thanks to the Swede.
Then there was the Flood in Poland.
But after Poltava and Gangut, the desire to fight decreased, and after 1814, when the Swede conquered the Norwegian, it completely disappeared.
The foreigners decided that Sweden had finally chosen peace and prosperity.
As it turned out, everything is transient.
Of course, one should not forget the great dialectic of Swedish neutrality during the Second World War - neutrality with respect to the Third Reich was already very friendly.
However, it can be objected that the supply of iron ore to Germany is one thing, and the current readiness to host the nuclear weapons of the American Reich is another, and it will be stronger.
It remains to wait until Switzerland also joins NATO and, as a sign of its zeal in the struggle for peace, will also express its readiness to host all kinds of “tomahawks”.
Then complete harmony will be achieved.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.