Sweden summons Russian ambassador over his public threats

The Swedish foreign ministry announced on Wednesday that it would summon the Russian ambassador to Stockholm to express its complaint over an alleged “attempt at interference” in the Swedish NATO application procedure, Reuters reports.

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Sweden and Finland both applied for membership in NATO; they hope to finish the process this year.

In a statement posted on the embassy’s website, the Russian ambassador claimed that the Nordic nations’ membership in NATO made them “a legitimate target for Russian retaliatory measures, including those of a military nature.”

The ambassador would be called, a representative for Sweden’s foreign ministry told Reuters.

“The foreign ministry is summoning the Russian ambassador to protest this obvious attempt at interference,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom separately told the news agency TT.

The statement published on the Russian embassy’s website is nothing more than a set of false narratives, disinformation, and manipulations that have been repeated by Russia for more than a year. 

This rhetoric is no different from that of Foreign Minister Lavrov or Permanent Representative to the UN Security Council Vasily Nebenzya. 

Moreover, the ambassador not only justifies the invasion of Ukraine but also resorts to direct threats. Unfortunately, Russia, stuck in this unjust and criminal war, has nothing to offer the world but aggressive rhetoric, threats, and intimidation. 

However, such behavior only accelerates the consolidation of the democratic world against dictatorship and the cult of war. And the sooner Sweden becomes a NATO member, the safer its people will be.

Photo: Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom (John MACDOUGHAL/AFP).