Cronkite school of journalism at
Arizona state university.
Judy: Sweden's prime minister
today announced her country
would join nato.
The nato, ending nearly 200
years of military nonalignment.
The announcement follows a
similar one this weekend from
neighboring Finland.
>> It is an historic
generational shift five the
governments of -- by the
governments of Sweden and
Finland.
Pursuing a policy of armed
neutrality.
Finland shares in 830 mile
border with Russia and as
recently as February, the
government said it had no plans
to join nato.
The invasion of Ukraine has
changed everything.
In 2017, 22% of finns and 32% of
Swedes supporting Jordan --
supported joining nato.
Today those numbers are 76% in
Finland and 53% in Sweden.
For more on this, we turn to
Sweden's ambassador to the unit
states and Finland's ambassador
to the United States.
Welcome, both of you to the
newshour.
Why are you applying for nato
today?
>> We have seen a dramatic shift
in our region.
When Russia attacked the Ukraine
in February, that was a dramatic
A neighboring country of ours
attacking -- unprovoked country,
a democracy, and other European
state.
That really changed everything
for us.
>> Ambassador, you train and
share intelligence with nato.
Your membership in the E.U.
Includes a treaty to assist any
member country that is attacked.
Why is that no longer good
enough?
>> I think we have a clear plan
to execute our long-standing
foreign policy position which is
we have already said for almost
two decades we might apply for
nato never ship your that is
what we are doing right now.
We also think that you you --
the E.U. Continues to be
relevant but we think nato as a
defensive alliance is needed in
this situation with its own
military capabilities.
>> You need all 30 countries in
nato to agree.
Today, Turkish president erdogan
called Sweden a incubator -- an
incubation center for the pkk,
the kurdish group deemed a
terrorist group by the E.U. And
the U.S.
Will you extradite the kurds
living in Sweden that Turkey is
asking for?
>> That is something we have not
discussed.
We are seeking contact with
Turkey to discuss all the issues
we have in front of us and we
look forward to cooperating with
Turkey as an ally in nato.
We are trying to have
discussions with the Turks and
look forward to that.
>> I know that Finland has said
it was blindsided by Turkeys
announcement.
Do you believe Turkey has a
price that nato can pay?
>> That remains to be seen.
We have received inconsistent
messages from Turkey.
First from president erdogan
saying they would support the
application.
Now we are hearing something
else.
I think we have to find out
together with Sweden what we are
talking about and what does that
mean.
I think we have a good
relationship with Turkey and I
believe we can sort of have a
good discussion on those items
and find a solution.
>> Vladimir Putin made comments
today that some people found
interesting.
He changed his rhetoric and said
he had no problems with Sweden
or Finland joining nato but that
creating new nato infrastructure
would trigger a response.
Do you believe that is a real
threat and do you have any plans
to expand nato infrastructure in
Sweden?
>> Sorry.
>> Yes, we are joining nato as a
full member of course with
everything that that implies.
So that is discussions we will
have with nato as we go forward.
Of course we are happy that
Russians do not see it as a
threat that we are joining nato.
We have heard differently before
.
Given the unpredictability and
what we have seen in the
Ukraine, we have to take every
precaution we can to strengthen
our own security so we have
decided to go up to 2% of our
defense budget.
We are ramping up our missile
defense, our air force, our
marine, Navy and building
submarines etc.
We are taking our security very
seriously.
Of course that was a good
message coming out of the
Kremlin today.
>> You are the former ambassador
in Moscow.
Were you surprised by prudent
language today?
>> Not really.
I think it is consistent with
what he has said before many
years ago.
Given the dramatic shift in
February in Ukraine, we have to
take seriously all kinds of
scenarios that might take place
and we continue to do so.
We take all the precautions but
of course this measure is
welcome.
It is consistent with what they
have said before.
>> There will be a time between
Sweden's requesting to join nato
and actually being inside of
nato and today the prime
minister said that would be a
vulnerable position.
The United Kingdom has publicly
said it has a mutual security
agreement during that time but
do you feel you have enough
security guarantees from the
U.S. Or other nato countries
during that gap?
>> We are fully aware we cannot
get full security guarantees
until we are a full member of
the alliance.
Our friends, the Norwegians and
the Danes and the birds and
others have stated they are
willing to do whatever it takes
-- the Brits and others have
stated they are going to do
whatever it takes to keep us
safe.
We are take and run security
very seriously.
-- We are taking our own
security very seriously pure and
we have wrapped up the threshold
for any aggression.
With our friends and allies and
partners, we think we can make
it tougher to threaten us.
So that is a discussion we are
having on the details of that.
What we are very -- we are very
happy from the support we get
from everyone on helping us
during this time.
>> I want to move the
conversation to Ukraine.
You are the former.
Ambassador to Moscow and to
Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials I spoke to a
couple days ago used the word
victory.
Do you fear Russia would
escalate before it is seen to
lose?
>> I think certainly it is a
possibility that we have to take
into account.
I do believe we have a long
conflict on our hands and I
think the Russians are not yet
suddenly ready to give up on
anything and I think they have
their old war goals in their
mind.
I think it is very hard to
predict what is going to happen
next.
There is not going to be a fast
solution to this war.
>> I noticed on Friday that
Ukraine's top aide said while he
was happy for both Finland and
Sweden to join nato, it was a
double standard of nato to
fast-track your admission.
Why should Ukraine wait now for
14 years and not get into nato
when you're countries are
expected to join nato within
months?
>> That is a question for the
alliance.
>> The alliance has set certain
standards and it is up to the
alliance to decide which
countries meet those standards
and how fast and with which
result they should proceed.
We are trying to do our best
together with Sweden.
Countries with basically
nonexistent corruption and heavy
defense spending.
It is up to the alliance to
decide how do we meet the
criteria.
>> I just have about 45 seconds
left.
The U.S. Has a pro-nato
president today but president
trump was questioned --
questioned nato when he was
president and of course the next
president could question nato.
Do you believe you have in the
U.S. A reliable partner inside
nato in the future?
>> Yes, I do.
We have been a long-standing
partner and have had a great
partnership for many years.
I think the alliance will
persist and there are many
members in the nato alliance.
30 of them.
The unit states is one of the
most important ones but I -- the
United States is one of the most
important ones but I trust the
United States will stay in nato.
>> Thank you very much to you
both.
>> Thanks a lot.