Agreement on defense cooperation with the United States of America, the DCA agreement

The plan requires that Sweden terminates the host nation agreement with NATO and opposes increasingly deep military cooperation, and sees fundamental problems with NATO's structure. It also requires a ban on nuclear weapons on Swedish soil and that Sweden can act independently towards great powers like the USA. The counter-proposal's requirement to terminate or amend the DCA agreement directly follows from these commitments.

• terminate the host nation agreementdecisive»Vänsterpartiet vill att Sverige river upp värdlandsavtalet med NATO.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party wants Sweden to terminate the host nation agreement with NATO.”
• nuclear weapon-free territory»Vi vill se ett förbud mot kärnvapen på svensk mark« (party programme ↗)“We want to see a ban on nuclear weapons on Swedish soil”
• independence from great powers»Det är viktigt att Sverige kan agera självständigt från stormakter som USA, Kina och Ryssland« (party programme ↗)“It is important that Sweden can act independently from great powers like the USA, China and Russia”
• criticism of NATO»Vi ser grundläggande problem med Natos uppbyggnad.« (party programme ↗)“We see fundamental problems with NATO's structure.”

The election manifesto makes NATO membership the best way for Sweden's security and promises continued international defence cooperation; terminating a bilateral defence agreement with the USA goes against this. The party programme's commitment to no nuclear weapons on Swedish territory does support part of the counter-proposal, but does not bear the requirement for termination. Taken together, the plan rejects what the counter-proposal demands.

• NATO as security pathdecisive»Sverige ska gå med i Nato. Ett svenskt medlemskap i Nato är den bästa vägen för vårt lands säkerhet och Sverige har därför lämnat in sin medlemsansökan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall join NATO. Swedish NATO membership is the best way for our country's security and Sweden has therefore submitted its membership application.”
• continued defence cooperation»Vi vill fortsätta internationella samarbeten och utveckla cyberförsvaret och underrättelseförmågan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to continue international cooperation and develop cyber defence and intelligence capability.”
• active participation in the alliance»försvarsalliansen ökar säkerheten för både Sverige, Norden och Nato som helhet.« (party programme ↗)“the defence alliance increases security for Sweden, the Nordic region and NATO as a whole.”
• no nuclear weapons on the territory»Inga kärnvapen på svenskt territorium.« (party programme ↗)“No nuclear weapons on Swedish territory.”

The plan demands a law banning nuclear weapons on Swedish soil and that Sweden be a nuclear-free zone in both peace and war, and that foreign bases and permanent troops must not be present on Swedish territory. The counter-proposal's demand that the agreement be terminated or modified to permanently exclude nuclear weapons and protect national jurisdiction directly aligns with this and with the demand for an independent foreign and security policy.

• ban on nuclear weapons on Swedish soildecisive»införa en lag som förbjuder kärnvapen på svensk mark« (2022 manifesto ↗)“enact a law banning nuclear weapons on Swedish soil”
• nuclear-free zone»Sverige ska vara en kärnvapenfri zon i både freds- och krigstid.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden must be a nuclear-free zone in both peace and war.”
• no foreign bases»ha permanenta trupper eller baser på svenskt territorium.« (party programme ↗)“have permanent troops or bases on Swedish territory.”
• independent foreign policy»Sveriges medlemskap i Nato måste förenas med en självständig utrikes- och« (party programme ↗)“Sweden's NATO membership must be reconciled with an independent foreign and”

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's line is to strengthen defence and complete NATO accession, and the party programme says that Sweden builds security through its own defence and close military cooperation with democracies in the region. Terminating or significantly altering the defence cooperation agreement with the USA runs counter to that line. However, the plan's requirement for strong rule-of-law institutions speaks for taking jurisdiction questions seriously.

• NATO and defence cooperationdecisive»Centerpartiet vill rusta försvaret, stärka Sveriges civila beredskap och fullfölja inträdet i Nato.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Centre Party wants to strengthen defence, enhance Sweden's civil preparedness and complete NATO accession.”
• realistic security perspective»Vi kan inte förutsätta att avspänning och demilitarisering ska prägla vår värld.« (party programme ↗)“We cannot assume that détente and demilitarization will characterize our world.”
• strengthened defence capability»Sverige behöver satsa två procent av BNP på försvaret så snart det är praktiskt möjligt och gå med i Nato.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden needs to invest two per cent of GDP in defence as soon as practically possible and join NATO.”
• independent courts»Våra demokratiska institutioner och principer — oberoende domstolar, äganderätten, den fria pressen, likheten inför lagen och många fler — ska stå starka oavsett politiskt styre.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Our democratic institutions and principles — independent courts, property rights, free press, equality before the law and many others — shall remain strong regardless of political control.”

The plan's decisive commitment is that security is created in alliances and that Sweden together with the USA and European neighbours shall defend both Sweden and our part of the world, with NATO as the absolutely most important cooperation organization. To terminate or unilaterally limit a bilateral defence cooperation agreement with the USA goes straight against this. The plan demands furthermore a significantly increased Swedish defence capacity, which the cooperation is intended to support.

• defence cooperation with the USAdecisive»Därför ska Sverige gå med i Nato och tillsammans med USA, Kanada och våra europeiska grannar försvara både Sverige och vår del av världen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore Sweden shall join NATO and together with the USA, Canada and our European neighbours defend both Sweden and our part of the world.”
• NATO as cornerstone»Nato är den absolut viktigaste samarbetsorganisationen för säkerhet och« (party programme ↗)“NATO is the absolutely most important cooperation organization for security and”
• stronger military defence»Sverige behöver ett betydligt starkare militärt försvar än i dag.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden needs a significantly stronger military defence than today.”
• increased defence capacity»Sveriges nationella försvarsförmåga måste öka.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden's national defence capacity must increase.”

The plan states that NATO plays a decisive role for transatlantic security and that cooperation with other countries and organisations shall be a natural part of security policy. To terminate the bilateral defence cooperation agreement goes against that line. The plan's demands that Swedish military operations be decided independently and that international law be respected are met within the agreement's framework rather than through termination.

• NATO decisive for securitydecisive»Givet nämnda kriterier spelar NATO härvid en avgörande roll för« (party programme ↗)“Given the stated criteria NATO plays a decisive role for”
• security through cooperation»behov tillgodoses ska samverkan med andra länder och organisationer vara en naturlig del av« (party programme ↗)“needs are met shall cooperation with other countries and organisations be a natural part of”
• independent Swedish decisions»först efter självständiga svenska beslut« (party programme ↗)“first after independent Swedish decisions”
• international law as condition»En given förutsättning för all sådan samverkan är att folkrätten och de« (party programme ↗)“A given prerequisite for all such cooperation is that international law and the”

The plan wants to intensify military cooperation in Europe and across the Atlantic and describes NATO as one of Sweden's absolutely most important international partnerships. Terminating or conditioning the defence cooperation agreement with the USA runs directly against that commitment. The plan explicitly rests on the fact that we are safer together with others.

• deepened military cooperationdecisive»Sverige behöver intensifiera det militära samarbetet i Europa« (party programme ↗)“Sweden needs to intensify military cooperation in Europe”
• NATO as core partnership»EU är tillsammans med Nato vårt allra viktigaste internationella samarbete.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The EU together with NATO is our absolutely most important international partnership.”
• security together with others»I försvaret av demokratin är vi säkrare tillsammans med andra.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“In defence of democracy we are safer together with others.”
• deepened security cooperation»Verka för ett fördjupat samarbete i norra Europa« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work for deepened cooperation in northern Europe”

The plan establishes that Sweden strengthens its security through bilateral and international defence agreements and cooperation, and wants to meet the deteriorated situation in the region with rearmament and deepened cooperation. The counter-proposal wants to terminate or condition precisely such an agreement. The plan's security policy line therefore speaks against the counter-proposal's requirement, even though the sovereignty question in itself lies close to the plan's principles.

• defence agreements strengthen securitydecisive»Genom bilaterala- och internationella avtal, samarbeten och försvarsallianser såsom« (party programme ↗)“Through bilateral and international agreements, cooperation and defence alliances such as”
• meet deteriorated security situation»Rusta Sverige inför en ny säkerhetspolitisk situation i vårt närområde« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Rearm Sweden in the face of a new security-political situation in our region”
• war-deterring capability»Sverigedemokraterna vill återupprätta totalförsvaret och att Sverige ska ha förmåga att möta potentiella angripare.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Sweden Democrats want to restore total defence and that Sweden has the ability to meet potential attackers.”
• deepened defence cooperation»Verka för ett försvarsförbund med Finland« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work for a defence union with Finland”