Foreign countries|Austin in Sweden
Sweden’s defense minister and the commander of the defense forces thanked the United States for its support for NATO membership. The US defense minister last visited Sweden in 2000.
Musk
Swedish received important signals from the United States on Wednesday, when the US Secretary of Defense visited Sweden for the first time in more than 20 years.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stressed that the US supports Sweden’s NATO membership and expects Sweden to become a NATO member no later than July, when NATO will hold its summit.
The US defense minister’s visit was rare for Sweden.
“We urge our allies Turkey and Hungary to ratify Sweden’s accession agreement as quickly as possible”, Austin said.
On Wednesday, Austin visited the Muskö naval base, about an hour’s drive from Stockholm. He met the Swedish Minister of Defense Pål Jonson’s and got to know the activities of the Swedish Navy.
The ministers traveled off Muskö on a Visby-class corvette of the Swedish Navy and got to see a presentation by the defense forces, which demonstrated, among other things, the operation of fighter jets, helicopters and a submarine.
The Muskö naval base is located about an hour’s drive from Stockholm.
Jonson’s according to the Minister’s visit was important for Sweden’s NATO membership. Sweden is still waiting for the ratifications of Turkey and Hungary to become a member of the military alliance.
“This visit signaled the commitment of the United States to Sweden’s security and to the fact that we will become members of NATO,” Jonson said.
Also the commander of the Swedish Defense Forces Micael Bydén praised the policies of the US minister.
“It was good that Austin was clear when talking about the schedule. The last time the minister visited from the United States, our cooperation was related to research, development and the defense industry. Now we have operational cooperation, we train together,” Bydén said.
The US defense minister last visited Sweden in 2000.
Bridge last week, a large military exercise started in Sweden, in which the United States also participates. 700 US soldiers have arrived in Sweden this week. More than 1,000 Finnish soldiers also participate in the Aurora 23 military exercise.
It is therefore the first time that Finland and Sweden train together in such a way that one of the countries is a member of NATO.
Commander of the Swedish Defense Forces Bydén says that Finland’s NATO membership has no effect on the course of this exercise yet. The exercise is planned before the start of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO processes. In total, in addition to Sweden, 13 countries and more than 26,000 people participate in the exercise.
“With the exercise, we want to prove that we are going in the right direction in terms of strengthening our defense forces,” Bydén said.
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