STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Ukraine might change into a non-aligned or impartial state like Sweden or Austria, Russia stated on Wednesday, as it seeks a compromise with Kyiv to finish three weeks of warfare.
Here are some information concerning the military standing of Sweden and Austria, that are each members of the European Union however not of the NATO military alliance. Ukraine has beforehand stated it desires to hitch each organisations, a stance that helped immediate Russia’s determination to invade its southern ex-Soviet neighbour on Feb. 24.
SWEDEN
– Sweden was impartial in World War Two and a part of the non-aligned motion in the course of the Cold War, although it secretly cooperated with the United States in offering delicate info on the Soviet Union.
– It gave up its formal neutrality when it joined the EU in 1995 and changed it with a coverage of military non-alignment.
– It has elevated hyperlinks to NATO lately and repeatedly participates in military workout routines. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson just lately rejected calls for membership, saying it might destabilise Europe’s safety.
– Sweden has participated in NATO and U.N. missions, for instance in Mali, Afghanistan and Iraq, although often in roles such as coaching and communications assist.
– It cooperates intently with various nations on defence issues, together with the United States, France and neighbouring Finland, which can be not a NATO member.
– Sweden is a part of the Joint Expeditionary Force, a British-led quick-response power with a deal with the High North, the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea area.
– None of its allies is formally dedicated to preventing alongside Sweden if it have been invaded.
– After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden stated it plans to extend military spending to 2% of gross home product (GDP) as quickly as potential, the extent NATO members are required to satisfy, although most presently don’t.
AUSTRIA
– Moscow made Austria’s neutrality, modelled on Switzerland’s, a situation of its independence when the nation’s occupation by the 4 Allied forces after World War Two resulted in 1955.
– Austria successfully grew to become a buffer zone between the jap bloc and the West, however the nations surrounding it at the moment are all NATO member states with the exceptions of Switzerland and tiny Liechtenstein.
– Austria has a comparatively small and underfunded military. Its defence spending was simply 0.6% of GDP in 2020, the second-lowest degree within the EU after Malta, Eurostat statistics present, properly under the EU common of 1.3%. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has steered growing it to at the least 1%.
– Austria is a associate to NATO, and takes half in operations with a U.N. mandate below NATO command, such as the KFOR peacekeeping power in Kosovo.
– Austria doesn’t often permit international powers to make use of or go via its territory until they’re appearing below a U.N. Security Council mandate.
(Reporting by Francois Murphy in Vienna and Simon Johnson in Stockholm; Editing by Gareth Jones)
