Sweden's 'superficial' feminist foreign policy and NATO membership bid

Photos: AA, rosaguiden.se

Click to read the article in Turkish

When we thought about the foreign policy of Sweden — at least before the Russia-Ukraine war — two main topics would come to our minds: Impartiality and the feminist foreign policy approach.

However, the country's formal application for NATO membership on May 18, together with its neighbor, Finland, has led us to reconsider both topics.

What made Sweden, the pioneer of the concept of feminist foreign policy, apply for NATO membership? Doesn't this contradict the mentioned policy?

Anna-Klara Bratt, the founder of Sweden's first feminist online news magazine, Feminist Perspektiv, says the country's feminist foreign policy is "very superficial."

Noting that Sweden decided to join NATO "in a hurry," she says the Social Democrats, who had been saying that the country would never enter NATO until a few months ago, did not explain to the public why they changed their minds so quickly.

What about the objections of Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan?

The only party that is against Sweden's NATO membership is the Left Party and it had warned that Erdoğan would have demands from Sweden, Bratt stressed, saying, "There are six Kurdish parliament members in Sweden, and Erdoğan mentioned them by name and called them all terrorists, which almost everybody opposes in Sweden."

Actually, it is difficult to understand the Turkish situation from a Swedish point: Who is the terrorist? But still, Turkey is one of the few countries that people know a lot about in Sweden. And this has to do with the Kurdish people. So, I am happy to say that today there is still a kind of consensus that Kurdish people in the Swedish government are not terrorists. Everybody understands that.

CLICK - Being a Feminist in Sweden: Anna-Klara Bratt 

As we know, Sweden was a pioneer in introducing the feminist foreign policy approach and now came the application to NATO membership. I wonder what Sweden's feminist foreign policy approach entails in general and whether Sweden's application to NATO membership is compatible with such a foreign policy approach.

First of all, I have to say that this feminist policy is not so well known to anyone. There are political scientists at Lund University that ask "How can we have a feminist foreign policy when we do not have a domestic feminist policy?" I find that question relevant.

I would say that it is very superficial. It is mainly about that we have had one female foreign minister with feminist ideology, Margot Wallström. Now, this has changed a little bit because we have a new foreign minister.

It was not easy to have a feminist foreign policy. What was actually that?

When Margot Wallström made sharp statements on weapons and Saudi Arabia, it was later smoothed by the prime minister.

What is feminism for one can be another thing for another. Some say that it is good that we use the word. It is a first step. And it did provoke some countries.

"Everyone is surprised by NATO application"

When it comes to NATO membership. I would say that the people in Sweden, feminist or not, are surprised by the whole thing; both Putin's [Vladimir, President of Russia] invasion [of Ukraine] and the following NATO application.

One thing that is common knowledge now is that we are a very close ally to Finland. It makes sense, right? We are neighbours, but I've never heard much about that alliance before.

And then again, I must say that many people understand the fear in Finland. Elder people, the ones who still have the war in memory, the Finnish War and the Second World War... They just totally respect that.

And it is not the old enemy, the Soviet Union, but it is specifically [Russia's President Vladimir] Putin. Nobody seems to be able to control him. It is not even clear what the ideology is, other than nationalism.

What changed the minds of Social Democracts?

Still, everybody is surprised. A few weeks after the invasion of Ukraine, all social democratic ministers said very clearly: "We will never ever enter NATO." I was actually surprised and thought, "Well, they're really firm. I can trust them." Then, they never said why they changed their mind. All of a sudden, they just did overnight and then staged a democratic process among representatives of the party.

There were big meetings online and the representatives never got to speak, as some claimed. They only listen to the ministers. Nobody is not used to this kind of process.

The only uncompromising party

There is only one party that stands firm against a Nato-membership and that is the Left Party, Vänsterpartiet. They are often left outside political processes, so maybe they do not know what the other knows.

What is the threat? Nobody knows, except these politicians and the same in Finland. It could be anything from nuclear threats to whatever.

As for the Swedish army, I would say that it appears outdated. Everybody is like 62, they are not good at cyber issues and their references are mainly from the cold war.

As feminists in Sweden, we have been suffering from Russian trolls and interference for a long time. They do not like LGBTI. They do not like anything we do. So, I am sure that Swedish authorities, the military or the police are not so good at Internet security. Even kids on the street seem better.

I spent a lot of time thinking about it: What made the social democrats change [their minds] overnight? It was something for sure because they put their entire pride in saying we will never enter NATO, and it's not easy to change in public life, right?

My guess is that our defense, the military, was not up for the job. During COVID-19 they put up 20-year-old field hospitals. It was so old that there were no longer nurses that could handle the machines. So, that is my guess.

Demand for a referendum

Finland is the lead here. And many Swedes accept that. They (Finnish people) are afraid (of Russia), having this long border.

So, only the Left protests. The Left Party wanted to have a referendum. They wanted everybody to be able to vote in Sweden. Make a proper referendum.

For some weeks, it has been a total NATO propaganda situation in the media. And it is clear that not so many Swedes know about the military and NATO. So, many do not even know what kind of questions to ask.

My personal take on the process has been to use the coming election I September. So that everybody gets a chance to take a stand. Let's show Putin, or whoever, that we are a democracy, and that we need to take such a big question back to the people.

I would not like Sweden to join Nato, but I would respect the voice of a referendum if the polls showed to be correct. I think this is a high-risk game with democratic fundaments.

"The Left foresaw Erdoğan's demands"

Only the Left mentioned Recep Tayyip Erdogan beforehand. They said that the first thing that will happen is that we will have to face Erdogan and he is going to have demands. Now we have this problem.

Yesterday (May 30), in our magazine, the Left Party said, "Let's now use the time to bring the question to the election", but I have not seen many reactions because the atmosphere is very quiet.

Actually, I was about to ask you about the general discussion in the media about Sweden's application to NATO as well as Turkey's opposition to it or objections or demands...

It is a topic among progressive journalists today. The entire mainstream media scene was just like: "Okay, so, we are a part of the NATO defense now." There were blue flags on the evening news and one political journalist even wore a blue jacket. It was like dress up time or something.

Now, it is the 2nd wave. It has been difficult. If you do not like NATO, it has been difficult. You have been called a "Putin hugger." That is very unfair to feminists who have been working with Pussy Riot, Russian feminists — or any feminist. We do not love Putin and he does not love us.

Yesterday, actually, it was the first liberal person saying, "Let's redraw our NATO application to not be victims of Erdoğan." So, it is pretty upside down.

I do not know how long Erdoğan can and will put up with his VETO against Sweden, but maybe the question will rise in the elections?

The Swedish minister or prime minister was in Turkey the other day [A delegation of senior officials from Sweden visited Turkey on May 25], and, yesterday, she stated that the former weapon embargo against Turkey will cease. Things happen fast. Again, only the Left is reacting.

Sweden's Kurdish MPs

There are six Kurdish parliament members in Sweden, and Erdoğan mentioned them by name and called them all terrorists, which almost everybody opposes in Sweden.

Most people are supporting the Kurdish people in Sweden. And no matter whether you are right or left, it's like: "Erdoğan should not decide who sits in the Swedish parliament." And it is also politicians from several parties, not only the Left, so I hope they will stick to this.

The support that the social democrats got from their own voters and members, according to the polls, is not the same now with this negotiation with Erdoğan. So, nobody actually knows what will happen, but nobody wants to be the doormat of Erdoğan.

Yesterday, it was pointed out that there are several Nato-countries that have the same stand on Kurdish people in the north of Syria. But as the social democrats turned in one day on the NATO question, nobody now knows when they will turn again. What will they do?

They appear very stressed. And the Swedish people have not really been told why. It was so in a hurry to join NATO that is has to be done before mid-summer. And that is three weeks from now. If I know Erdoğan, he can wait for another four weeks, right?

Arms embargo on Turkey: "What's next?"

I would also like to ask you about a specific incident a couple of weeks ago. The Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Sweden and Finland came together in Berlin and it was reported that Turkey's minister raised his voice against his Swedish counterpart during this meeting and said that he was just irritated at Sweden's feminist foreign policy approach. I was wondering how was it resonated with the public, politicians, feminists in Sweden?

Well, it was presented like this: Finland does not seem to have a problem with Turkey. Only Sweden and our Foreign minister Ann] Linde... Now, she may have inherited the feminist foreign policy from her predecessor. But she is not at all a high-profile feminist or high profile human rights [advocate] or something like that. She used to be a Minister of Trade.

And, maybe, for a while, you were thinking: "Well, that is positive. She has been putting up a fight for some. Probably for the Kurdish people staying in Sweden..."

But it landed like "Finland is more ready for this decision. Finland seemed more serious. Finland is the grown up in the room."

But the resistance that does exist in Sweden... At least 23 or 24 percent in the polls. I mean the ones who resist NATO... So, we are very much aware that we are not the majority.

I think yesterday they gave up on the weapon embargo. And who knows what they will give up today?

Swedish citizens in the government, not even Erdoğan, can change that. But it is a very new situation for everybody.

"No one knows what will happen"

It is true that Sweden has collaborated with NATO for a long time. And a little bit more every year... So, when the NATO-advocators say that we are almost in NATO, they are correct, but it was never a question in an election or anything like that. I would not say that there were concerns for Ukraine before in Sweden, either.

I do agree that Putin is not to be trusted. Everybody does. I mean, there exists no Putin lover in Sweden, really. There's one party, the racist party Sweden democrats, that did not want to join NATO before march, but they also turned. Many people saying that they get their money from Russia, from Putin specifically, and they do share nationalistic values, but never the less is a majority for the membership in the Parliament.

I hope that it will be a question of the election, but it will not. If it will, it will probably be because of Erdoğan. Otherwise, we will be members already. So, it is not a positive thing, either.

Nobody loves Putin, but nobody loves Erdoğan, either. Even the right...

Actually, it is difficult to understand the Turkish situation from a Swedish point: Who is the terrorist?

But still, Turkey is one of the few countries that people know a lot about in Sweden. And this has to do with the Kurdish people. So, I am happy to say that today there is still a kind of consensus that Kurdish people in the Swedish government are not terrorists. Everybody understands that.

Now there are people saying that the PKK is terrorist. And there are fewer people pointing out that the PKK in the north of Syria fought ISIS.

I would still say that the knowledge of Turkey is much better than of a lot of other countries, like Ukraine.

Our Polish feminist friends, Poland is also a NATO country, are saying that Putin said all the time that this was going to happen. So, it was not totally clear in this way that they did not pay attention to what he said. So, it is not a confused discussion and now nobody knows what will happen. (SD/VK)