Leitartikel: Niemand will über schwedische Atomwaffen diskutieren – aber wir müssen

DN, Dagens Nyheter, is one of Swedens largest morning newspapers. Here’s an english translation of the full editorial:

There is no reason to pretend that NATO membership turned out the way we had hoped. Donald Trump is now not only threatening to leave Europe – he is threatening Europe.

*Text: DN Editorial Board*

“I don’t need international law,” Donald Trump declares in an interview with *The New York Times*. His only limitation in dealing with other countries? “My morality. Myself. That’s the only thing that can stop me.”

The president further notes that he may have to choose between Greenland and NATO – adding that the alliance is nothing without the United States.

The first year of Donald Trump’s second term has been dramatic – and has involved a marked shift from his first four years. Back then, we were mainly afraid that he would withdraw the U.S. from NATO and leave Europe alone with Vladimir Putin. Now it is obvious that he is prepared to use our dependence to force concessions from us.

Like Greenland.

“You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they’ve tried everything else,” British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is said to have remarked. And of course we should hope for a future rendezvous with the United States. But then the relationship must be more equal – and we must first realize that the core of the one we currently have is crumbling.

According to the news agency Reuters, the Pentagon told European diplomats in December that we have one year to take over responsibility for the defense of our continent. When European leaders discussed precisely that issue this spring, the timeline was between five and ten years. Of course, it cannot be fully achieved in one year, but the fact remains that Europe must very quickly replace the United States – capability by capability.

This also applies to the nuclear umbrella. After J.D. Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference last winter, Emmanuel Macron opened the door to French nuclear weapons also protecting others, followed by a joint declaration with Keir Starmer to include the British ones as well. Talks with the Germans began in August.

If Europe had stood united, had full awareness of the crisis, and consistently demonstrated resolve, one might perhaps have been able to calmly conclude that we were on the right path. But Viktor Orbán constantly undermines unity. Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez says the Russians will not march across the Pyrenees anyway. Where the French, British, and Italians are supposed to find the money for rearmament remains a mystery.

Moreover, Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen may soon govern in London and Paris. Le Pen says no to European cooperation around French nuclear weapons.

Was it pointless for Sweden to join NATO? No, we are still safer together with others, and membership enables a much deeper defense cooperation in the Nordic region. But it would be foolish to pretend that it turned out as intended, or that our primary task now is to build infrastructure to receive help from outside. Nor is this merely about fairly distributing within Europe the burden to be taken over from the United States.

Of course we should count on Spaniards and Italians having our backs – but also on the fact that this means we will be standing in the front line. Not everyone will spend 3.5 percent of GDP on the military, and those of us who can afford it and grasp the seriousness must be prepared to spend more than that. And there should be a plan for what happens if more than just the United States wavers.

Therefore, a discussion about nuclear weapons is also required that goes beyond how the French and British ones could protect the entire continent. Is a capability needed in Northern Europe? The combination of nuclear technical expertise and an advanced defense industry would in that case give Sweden a key role.

An obvious risk of Trump’s policy is widespread nuclear proliferation. No one wants a situation where many countries feel compelled to acquire their own weapons. But shared Nordic nuclear weapons – perhaps together with Germany – could counteract precisely that.

These are not questions anyone wishes to discuss, but when the United States fundamentally betrays its role as guarantor of Europe’s security order and lashes out at allies – then they must be put on the table.

It’s the only language America and Russia understand. It’s the reason they don’t fight each other and neither would think about invading North Korea.