Foreign and security policy

The election manifesto makes the party an explicit opponent of ever-deepening military cooperation with NATO and EU. The counter-proposal instead demands strengthened joint foreign and security policy including a unified European defence capacity. The party programme is moreover critical of the EU's undemocratic structure and prefers intergovernmental solutions over supranational decisions.

• against deepened military EU cooperationdecisive»Därför är Vänsterpartiet motståndare till Sveriges allt djupare militära samarbete med NATO och EU, och vi är det enda riksdagspartiet som konsekvent värnar och vill återupprätta svensk alliansfrihet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“That is why the Left Party is an opponent of Sweden's ever-deepening military cooperation with NATO and EU, and we are the only parliamentary party that consistently protects and wants to restore Swedish non-alignment.”
• criticism of the EU's structure»Vi är däremot kritiska till EU:s odemokratiska struktur, som får allvarliga« (party programme ↗)“We are however critical of the EU's undemocratic structure, which has serious”
• intergovernmental rather than supranational»en bättre väg att gå än överstatliga beslut.« (party programme ↗)“a better way to go than supranational decisions.”
• against militarization»och deeskalering. Vi vänder oss emot militarisering och kapprustning.« (party programme ↗)“and de-escalation. We oppose militarization and arms races.”

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 party programme explicitly demands a more powerful joint foreign and security policy for the EU and stronger European defence cooperation. The election manifesto establishes that the ability to resist cyber attacks and disinformation shall be strengthened. The counter-proposal's demand thus matches point by point with the plan's commitments, including support for free and independent media.

• powerful joint EU policydecisive»Mer kraftfull gemensam utrikes- och säkerhetspolitik för EU för att bidra till ökad säkerhet och trygghet i en osäker omvärld.« (party programme ↗)“More powerful joint foreign and security policy for the EU to contribute to increased security and safety in an uncertain world.”
• European defence cooperation»Starkare europeiskt försvarssamarbete.« (party programme ↗)“Stronger European defence cooperation.”
• resistance to cyber threats»Arbetet för att stärka förmågan att stå emot cyberattacker och desinformation ska stärkas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work to strengthen the ability to resist cyber attacks and disinformation shall be strengthened.”
• independent media»Fri och oberoende media.« (party programme ↗)“Free and independent media.”

The counter-proposal wants to strengthen the EU's common foreign and security policy including the collective European defence capacity, but the plan explicitly establishes that the EU should not be militarized and instead wants to put human rights and conflict prevention first. The plan is also explicitly EU-critical and wants to reduce centralized control. Support for independent media is shared, but does not sustain the requirement as a whole.

• no to EU militarizationdecisive»Vi accepterar inte att EU militariseras.« (party programme ↗)“We do not accept that the EU is militarized.”
• peaceful conflict resolution first»Mänskliga rättigheter, fredlig konflikthantering och en konfliktförebyggande politik« (party programme ↗)“Human rights, peaceful conflict resolution and a conflict-preventive policy”
• EU-critical decentralism»Utifrån vår decentralistiska grundsyn är vi ett EUkritiskt parti och därför arbetar vi för att förändra unionen.« (party programme ↗)“Based on our decentralist fundamentals we are an EU-critical party and therefore we work to change the union.”
• support for independent media»förstärka yttrandefriheten och stödja oberoende medier i hela landet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen freedom of speech and support independent media throughout the country.”

The election manifesto makes resilience against external influence and infiltration an explicit task and wants to protect freedom of the press and independent media as the foundation of democracy. The counter-proposal's requirement for strengthened work against cyber threats and disinformation and support for independent media follows from these commitments. The party programme moreover wants the EU to become narrower but sharper on precisely cross-border challenges, which contains a stronger common security policy.

• resilience against influencedecisive»De politiska partierna är sårbara mot påverkan och infiltration. Reglerna för finansiering av politiska partier bör skärpas och deras motståndskraft mot yttre påverkan och infiltration rustas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Political parties are vulnerable to influence and infiltration. Rules for funding political parties should be tightened and their resilience against external influence and infiltration strengthened.”
• independent media»En allsidig, oberoende och livskraftig mediebevakning i hela landet är avgörande för demokratin. Pressfriheten ska skyddas och oberoende public service försvaras.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“A comprehensive, independent and vibrant media coverage throughout the country is crucial for democracy. Freedom of the press should be protected and independent public service defended.”
• sharper EU on common issues»EU måste bli smalare, men vassare, göra färre saker men göra dem bättre.« (party programme ↗)“The EU must become narrower, but sharper, do fewer things but do them better.”
• strengthened defence capability»Vi vill rusta det militära försvaret snabbt, kraftfullt och långsiktigt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to strengthen the military defence quickly, forcefully and in the long term.”

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 more – not less – European cooperation and especially closer cooperation against internal and external threats, and makes the EU the primary forum for Swedish foreign and security policy. It also wants to strengthen independent and scrutinizing media as democracy's foundation, which bears the requirement for support to reliable media against disinformation. The counter-proposal's demand for a strengthened common foreign and security policy is thus the plan's own line.

• closer EU cooperation against threatsdecisive»Inte minst vill vi öka de europeiska klimatambitionerna samt se en tätare samverkan mot inre och yttre hot.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Not least we want to increase European climate ambitions and see closer cooperation against internal and external threats.”
• EU as primary foreign policy forum»Europeiska unionen är det främsta forumet för svensk utrikes- och säkerhetspolitik.« (party programme ↗)“The European Union is the primary forum for Swedish foreign and security policy.”
• deepened Europe cooperation»Europa behöver mer – inte mindre – samarbete.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Europe needs more – not less – cooperation.”
• independent scrutinizing media»Mediernas oberoende roll och kritiska granskning är grunden i varje demokrati.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Media independence and critical scrutiny is the foundation of every democracy.”

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 explicitly states that the EU must have a coordinated ability to independently handle crises of a military or civilian nature and that Sweden must be able to meet attacks from international crime, terrorism and cyber warfare. This supports the counter-proposal's requirement for a strengthened joint foreign and security policy as well as work against cyber threats and disinformation. The plan's requirement for independent and factual news reporting also supports efforts for reliable media, while the warning against unwelcome centralization sets a limit.

• EU's crisis management capacitydecisive»EU måste också ha en samordnad förmåga att självständigt hantera kriser av militär eller civil natur inom« (party programme ↗)“The EU must also have a coordinated ability to independently handle crises of a military or civilian nature within”
• capacity against cyber threats»möta angrepp från internationell kriminalitet, terrorism, cyberkrigföring« (party programme ↗)“meet attacks from international crime, terrorism, cyber warfare”
• independent news reporting»Public service ska tillhandahålla oberoende och saklig nyhetsför« (party programme ↗)“Public service shall provide independent and factual news”
• delimited EU powers»En avgränsning av EU:s uppgifter är nödvändig för att« (party programme ↗)“A delimitation of the EU's tasks is necessary to”

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 counter-proposal wants to strengthen the EU's common foreign and security policy and work against cyber threats and disinformation. The plan identifies security as one of the areas where the EU shall act jointly, commits to developing cyber defence and to introducing an action plan against hybrid threats and cyberattacks. The plan also sees free and independent media as the most important counter-measure against disinformation, even though it at the same time emphasises that the EU shall not decide everything.

• security as joint EU taskdecisive»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 shall be on solving problems that Sweden cannot handle alone, for example trade, climate, migration and security.”
• action plan against hybrid threats»Införa en handlingsplan med konkreta åtgärder mot hybridhot och cyberattacker« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Introduce an action plan with concrete measures against hybrid threats and cyberattacks”
• free media against disinformation»Det är också det viktigaste motmedlet mot företeelser såsom ”fake news” och desinformationskampanjer.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It is also the most important counter-measure against phenomena such as "fake news" and disinformation campaigns.”
• limited EU competence»EU ska varken göra eller fatta beslut om allt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The EU shall neither do nor decide on everything.”

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 re-establish intergovernmentalism, stop power transfers to Brussels and sees very negatively on proposals for abolished veto right in foreign policy. Strengthening the EU's common foreign and security policy and the combined European defence capacity is precisely such a transfer of power. The party programme states that intergovernmental cooperation is fully sufficient and views supranational forms with strong scepticism.

• no to abolished veto rightdecisive»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 on several planned initiatives that increase the EU's grip on economic policy as well as proposals for new EU taxes and abolished veto right in foreign policy.”
• intergovernmentalism re-established»Återupprätta mellanstatligheten och stärka väljarnas påverkansmöjligheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Re-establish intergovernmentalism and strengthen voters' possibilities of influence”
• scepticism toward supranationality»Vi ser med stark skepsis på samarbeten som tar sig överstatliga former, det vill säga då det bildas en politisk union, vars konstitution står över medlemsstaternas.« (party programme ↗)“We view with strong scepticism cooperation that takes supranational forms, that is when a political union is formed, whose constitution stands above the member states'.”
• stop power transfers»Stoppa maktöverföringar och EU-skatter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop power transfers and EU taxes”