EU's foreign, security and defence policy

The election manifesto makes the party an opponent of ever deeper military cooperation with NATO and the EU and wants to restore alliance freedom. The party programme explicitly opposes militarisation and arms build-up and is critical of the EU's undemocratic structure. The counter-proposal's demand that the EU should get more foreign policy tools and more sustained common capacity therefore goes against the plan, even though its goals on democracy and human rights are shared.

• no to deeper EU defencedecisive»Därför är Vänsterpartiet motståndare till Sveriges allt djupare militära samarbete med NATO och EU« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore the Left Party is opposed to Sweden's ever deeper military cooperation with NATO and the EU”
• against militarisation»Vi vänder oss emot militarisering och kapprustning.« (party programme ↗)“We oppose militarisation and arms build-up.”
• criticism of the EU's structure»Vi är däremot kritiska till EU:s odemokratiska struktur« (party programme ↗)“We are however critical of the EU's undemocratic structure”
• voice for peace»Vänsterpartiet anser att Sverige ska vara en röst för fred och rättvisa, inte för ökad militarisering.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party believes that Sweden should be a voice for peace and justice, not for increased militarisation.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The election manifesto wants to see an EU that stands up for common values and establishes that girls' and women's rights must be strengthened globally; the party programme wants the EU to become a stronger global actor for development and human rights and a driving force in solidarity work. The counter-proposal's requirement for a clearer democracy and human rights focus in the EU's foreign policy is precisely that line.

• values-driven EUdecisive»Vi vill se ett EU som står upp för våra gemensamma värderingar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to see an EU that stands up for our common values.”
• EU for human rights»EU kan bli en starkare global aktör för utveckling och mänskliga rättigheter.« (party programme ↗)“The EU can become a stronger global actor for development and human rights.”
• women's rights globally»Flickors och kvinnors rättigheter måste stärkas globalt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Girls' and women's rights must be strengthened globally.”
• driving force EU»Vi vill att EU ska vara pådrivande i det internationella solidaritetsarbetet« (party programme ↗)“We want the EU to be a driving force in international solidarity work”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan requires that the EU's foreign policy leaves narrow European interests behind and is instead focused on poverty reduction, democracy-building and environmental work, with human rights and conflict prevention to the fore. This is precisely the reorientation towards democracy, human rights and rule of law that the counter-proposal calls for. However, the plan's opposition to an EU militarisation qualifies the support for additional security policy tools.

• reorient the EU's foreign policydecisive»EU:s utrikespolitik värnar i alltför stor utsträckning snäva europeiska intressen, och bör i stället inriktas på fattigdomsbekämpning, demokratibyggande och miljöarbete.« (party programme ↗)“The EU's foreign policy protects to too great an extent narrow European interests, and should instead be focused on poverty reduction, democracy-building and environmental work.”
• human rights and conflict prevention first»Mänskliga rättigheter, fredlig konflikthantering och en konfliktförebyggande politik« (party programme ↗)“Human rights, peaceful conflict management and a conflict-prevention policy”
• no to EU militarisation»Vi accepterar inte att EU militariseras.« (party programme ↗)“We do not accept that the EU is militarised.”
• sharper human rights tools in the EU»EU måste få bättre verktyg att ta itu med brott mot de mänskliga rättigheterna inom unionen, och sanktionssystemet behöver utvecklas.« (party programme ↗)“The EU must get better tools to address human rights violations within the union, and the sanctions system needs to be developed.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan commits the party to in all respects protect democratic principles and human rights in EU cooperation, and describes the vision of a more open and humane EU. That EU's common foreign and security policy is more clearly directed towards democracy, rule of law and women's rights as well as cooperation with other democracies follows directly from that. The plan's requirement for a narrower but sharper EU does not limit precisely this area, which is designated as one where common policy should become stronger.

• democracy and HR in EUdecisive»värna om de demokratiska principerna och mänskliga rättigheterna i EU-samarbetet.« (party programme ↗)“Protect democratic principles and human rights in EU cooperation.”
• HR-driven foreign policy»Utrikes- och säkerhetspolitiken syftar ytterst till att värna universella mänskliga fri- och rättigheter.« (party programme ↗)“Foreign and security policy ultimately aims to protect universal human freedoms and rights.”
• more humane EU»öppnare, grönare och mänskligare EU där mångfald är vår gemensamma styrka.« (party programme ↗)“More open, greener and more humane EU where diversity is our common strength.”
• narrower but sharper EU»EU måste bli smalare, men vassare, göra färre saker men göra dem bättre.« (party programme ↗)“EU must become narrower but sharper, do fewer things but do them better.”

The election manifesto establishes that the defence of democracy, even far beyond Europe's borders, shall always form the basis for Sweden's and the EU's foreign policy, which is exactly the direction the counter-proposal wants to give the EU's joint policy. The plan moreover wants to see closer European cooperation against internal and external threats and builds security policy on cooperation with other democracies. The EU is pointed out as the foremost forum for Swedish foreign and security policy.

• democracy defence as basisdecisive»Och vi är rösten för att försvaret av demokratin – även långt bortom Europas gränser – alltid ska utgöra grunden för Sveriges och EU:s utrikespolitik.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“And we are the voice for that the defence of democracy – even far beyond Europe's borders – shall always form the basis for Sweden's and the EU's foreign policy.”
• closer cooperation against threats»Inte minst vill vi öka de europeiska klimatambitionerna samt se en tätare samverkan mot inre och yttre hot.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Not least do we want to increase European climate ambitions as well as see closer cooperation against internal and external threats.”
• EU as foremost forum»Europeiska unionen är det främsta forumet för svensk utrikes- och säkerhetspolitik.« (party programme ↗)“The European Union is the foremost forum for Swedish foreign and security policy.”
• cooperation with democracies»Grunden för Sveriges säkerhetspolitik ska vara samarbete med andra demokratier.« (party programme ↗)“The basis for Sweden's security policy shall be cooperation with other democracies.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan sets the EU's ultimate goal as being a guarantor for peace, security and dialogue and requires that the union has coordinated capacity to independently handle crises within and near its borders. According to the plan, European security is created through cross-border cooperation and solidarity, and protection of human freedoms and rights is a main objective for foreign policy. The counter-proposal's demand for a clearer democracy and rights orientation with more tools responds to this.

• EU as peace guarantordecisive»Det yttersta målet för EU är att vara garant för fred, säkerhet och dialog mellan de europeiska folken.« (party programme ↗)“The EU's ultimate goal is to be a guarantor for peace, security and dialogue between the European peoples.”
• EU's own crisis management capacity»EU måste också ha en samordnad förmåga att självständigt hantera kriser av militär eller civil natur inom eller invid unionens gränser.« (party programme ↗)“The EU must also have coordinated capacity to independently handle crises of a military or civil nature within or near the union's borders.”
• HR as main objective for foreign policy»Människovärdet ska stå i fokus och arbetet för att skydda och värna mänskliga fri- och rättigheter ska vara ett huvudmål för utrikespolitiken.« (party programme ↗)“Human dignity shall be in focus and work to protect and uphold human freedoms and rights shall be a main objective for foreign policy.”
• security through cooperation»Europeisk säkerhet skapas genom gränsöverskridande samarbete och solidaritet.« (party programme ↗)“European security is created through cross-border cooperation and solidarity.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan makes the EU Sweden's most important cooperation alongside NATO and identifies security as one of the areas where the union should focus its efforts. It also wants Swedish values regarding democracy, rule of law and individual freedom to guide foreign policy to a greater extent. Clearer democracy and rule-of-law orientation with more security policy tools thus align with the plan's direction, with the reservation that the EU must not grow at the expense of member states.

• The EU and NATO at centredecisive»EU är tillsammans med Nato vårt allra viktigaste internationella samarbete.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The EU is, together with NATO, our absolutely most important international cooperation.”
• The EU should focus on security»EU:s fokus ska ligga på att lösa problem som Sverige inte kan hantera ensamt, till exempel handel, klimat, migration och säkerhet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The EU's focus should lie in solving problems that Sweden cannot handle alone, for example trade, climate, migration and security.”
• values-driven foreign policy»Svenska intressen och värderingar om demokrati, rättsstat och individuell frihet ska i högre grad styra valet av biståndsinsatser.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Swedish interests and values regarding democracy, rule of law and individual freedom should to a greater extent guide the choice of aid initiatives.”
• member states' sovereignty»Men EU ska aldrig utvecklas på medlemsstaternas bekostnad.« (party programme ↗)“But the EU must never develop at the expense of member states.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan wants to reestablish intergovernmentalism, stop power transfers to the EU and views very negatively initiatives that expand the union's reach, particularly proposals regarding veto power in foreign policy. To give the EU's common foreign and security policy a broader task and more tools therefore goes against the plan, even though the plan shares the goal of promoting democracy and human rights.

• intergovernmentalism ahead of uniondecisive»Återupprätta mellanstatligheten och stärka väljarnas påverkansmöjligheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Reestablish intergovernmentalism and strengthen citizens' influence”
• preserved national veto power»Vi ser mycket negativt på flera planerade initiativ som ökar EU:s grepp över den ekonomiska politiken samt på förslag på införandet av nya EU-skatter och avskaffad vetorätt inom utrikespolitiken.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We view very negatively several planned initiatives that increase the EU's grip on economic policy and proposals for introduction of new EU taxes and abolished veto power in foreign policy.”
• stopped power transfers»Stoppa maktöverföringar och EU-skatter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop power transfers and EU taxes”
• democracy as Swedish foreign policy goal»Vara en tydlig röst för den västerländska demokratimodellen och mänskliga fri- och rättigheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Be a clear voice for the Western democracy model and human rights”