Issues of trust simmer between the EU and Sweden
The new year is all set to bring happiness and success to everyone, but it seems the opposite for the EU this year. While the world will be busy celebrating the start of the year, the EU will be mired in mourning. The bells of prosperity will be heard in every nook and cranny except in the EU whose rotating presidency will sound its death knell.
The European Union is heading for a difficult summer as one of its long-standing and staunch enemies is poised to take over the presidency. Yes, we are talking about Sweden, which is ready to take over the baton from the Czech Republic on January 1 and has already started giving the bloc nightmares.
The European Union must be having sleepless nights these days. The reason is the mandate with which Sweden will take on the presidency.
Sweden’s divided domestic policy was on full display on Wednesday, when Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson presented his country priorities for his upcoming presidency of the EU Council. Sweden takes over the rotating presidency from the Czech Republic in the new year, with the aim of moving forward around 350 EU acts over six months before handing them over to Spain on 1 July.
Read more: A full-scale clash between NATO and Sweden has just begun
Kristersson presented Sweden’s priorities to parliament in Stockholm on Wednesday under four areas – security, resilience, prosperity and democratic principles and the rule of law – and struck an optimistic tone about what could be achieved.
“The Swedish presidency will be an active one and will offer constructive leadership to deepen the EU’s strengths and find compromises in the European Council,” he said.
The bloc’s opposition parties listening in the chamber have raised concerns about the country’s status. According to them, however, the introduction of the presidency was further evidence that Sweden’s government, a minority of three centrist parties supported by the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD), is on the wrong track. “Migration is not mentioned at all, gang-related crime is mentioned in a word, and the references to the rule of law look like they were squeezed in,” Matilda Ernkrans, a Social Democrat lawmaker told POLITICO as she left the session.
So, the liberal election meeting in the block goes completely against Kristersson’s proposed mandate. But there is something more to the picture. You see, Sweden is one of those countries that has always quarreled with the EU when it came to either its policies or its approach to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Sweden has been left up the creek without a paddle by the EU, which has resulted in a position being taken.
Read more: Sweden and the EU enter into a complete verbal war over Ukraine
The bloc has withdrawn its promises to the country, which irritated Sweden’s nerves. The country even backed out of joining the transatlantic alliance because it doesn’t want to play NATO’s game with Russia that eventually irritated the EU.
Amidst all the strife and full-scale clashes and verbal spats between the bloc and the nation, Sweden leaned against Russia which is now becoming a concern for the EU as the nation is now set to take over the EU presidency. EU which has taken one anti-Russian stance due to its military aggression in neighboring Ukraine may now vanish into thin air. The opposing members take issue with the fact that the mandate does not address migration and violent crime, but we know exactly what hurts them the most. Overall, the EU is now thrown into a state of tizzy.