Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Nato deal with Turkey, pilot strike postponed, and the return of nuclear: find out what's going on in Sweden with The Local's roundup.
Turkey drops objections to Sweden joining Nato
Turkey on Tuesday evening dropped its objections to Sweden and Finland joining Nato, paving the way for the two Nordic nations to join the North Atlantic defence alliance.
“We have reached an agreement between Sweden, Turkey and Finland which means that Turkey now accepts that we will be granted invitee status in Nato. That’s important, as it will improve Sweden’s security,” Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said after a meeting in Madrid with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In a press release, Nato said that the foreign ministers of Turkey, Sweden and Finland had all signed a trilateral memorandum (find copy here) which addressed “Türkiye’s legitimate security concerns”.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Nato leaders would as a result now be able to issue a formal invitation to Sweden and Finland to join the alliance.
“I’m pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join Nato. Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey’s concerns, including around arms exports,
and the fight against terrorism,” he said.
In the deal, Sweden commits to resuming weapons sales to Turkey, to cease supporting the Kurdish PYD government in northern Syria, and to handle extradition requests from Turkey for those it suspects of links to the PKK or Gülen Movement “expeditiously and thoroughly”.
Swedish Vocab: en överenskommelse – an agreement
Pilot unions postpone strike until Saturday
Sweden's pilot union has postponed a strike planned for Wednesday until Saturday morning, to provide time for extra negotiations with the Scandinavian airline SAS.
As many as 900 pilots were expected to go on strike, affecting up to 30,000 travellers, but at forty minutes past midnight on Wednesday, SAS said that the talks would be extended.
Swedish Vocab: förhandlingar – negotiations
Risk of summer water shortages across Sweden
Groundwater levels are low across large parts of Sweden, making water shortages likely, the Geological Survey of Sweden has said in its latest report.
Groundwater levels are low across almost all of Götaland, most of Svealand och about half of Norrland, compared with what is normal for the season, meaning even a normally dry summer will lead to shortages.
Swedish Vocab: grundvatten – groundwater
Sweden’s state power company to study building mini nuclear plants
Sweden's state power company Vattenfall is looking into building a series of small modular nuclear reactors at the site of its decommissioned Ringhals plant, in what would be the first new nuclear power station in the country since 1980.
The company’s chief executive Anna Borg said in a press release on Tuesday that the first new reactors could come into operation by the early 2030s, “provided that a pilot study concludes that it would be profitable and all other conditions for a future investment decision are met, in particular, new regulations for nuclear power”.
The statement comes at a time when Sweden’s right-wing opposition has politicised the issue of nuclear power, criticising the Social Democrat-led government for allowing the first two nuclear power plants built at Ringhals near Gothenburg to be decommissioned in 2019 and 2020, five years earlier than intended when they were built.
“I think it’s fantastic and exciting news that Vattenfall wants to invest in new nuclear power in southern Sweden,” said Carl-Oskar Bolin, chair of the Swedish parliament’s business committee. “This is exactly what’s required to stabilise power prices in the long run.”
Swedish Vocab: att utreda – to investigate
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Turkey drops objections to Sweden joining Nato
Turkey on Tuesday evening dropped its objections to Sweden and Finland joining Nato, paving the way for the two Nordic nations to join the North Atlantic defence alliance.
“We have reached an agreement between Sweden, Turkey and Finland which means that Turkey now accepts that we will be granted invitee status in Nato. That’s important, as it will improve Sweden’s security,” Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said after a meeting in Madrid with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In a press release, Nato said that the foreign ministers of Turkey, Sweden and Finland had all signed a trilateral memorandum (find copy here) which addressed “Türkiye’s legitimate security concerns”.
Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Nato leaders would as a result now be able to issue a formal invitation to Sweden and Finland to join the alliance.
“I’m pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join Nato. Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey’s concerns, including around arms exports,
and the fight against terrorism,” he said.
In the deal, Sweden commits to resuming weapons sales to Turkey, to cease supporting the Kurdish PYD government in northern Syria, and to handle extradition requests from Turkey for those it suspects of links to the PKK or Gülen Movement “expeditiously and thoroughly”.
Swedish Vocab: en överenskommelse – an agreement
Pilot unions postpone strike until Saturday
Sweden's pilot union has postponed a strike planned for Wednesday until Saturday morning, to provide time for extra negotiations with the Scandinavian airline SAS.
As many as 900 pilots were expected to go on strike, affecting up to 30,000 travellers, but at forty minutes past midnight on Wednesday, SAS said that the talks would be extended.
Swedish Vocab: förhandlingar – negotiations
Risk of summer water shortages across Sweden
Groundwater levels are low across large parts of Sweden, making water shortages likely, the Geological Survey of Sweden has said in its latest report.
Groundwater levels are low across almost all of Götaland, most of Svealand och about half of Norrland, compared with what is normal for the season, meaning even a normally dry summer will lead to shortages.
Swedish Vocab: grundvatten – groundwater
Sweden’s state power company to study building mini nuclear plants
Sweden's state power company Vattenfall is looking into building a series of small modular nuclear reactors at the site of its decommissioned Ringhals plant, in what would be the first new nuclear power station in the country since 1980.
The company’s chief executive Anna Borg said in a press release on Tuesday that the first new reactors could come into operation by the early 2030s, “provided that a pilot study concludes that it would be profitable and all other conditions for a future investment decision are met, in particular, new regulations for nuclear power”.
The statement comes at a time when Sweden’s right-wing opposition has politicised the issue of nuclear power, criticising the Social Democrat-led government for allowing the first two nuclear power plants built at Ringhals near Gothenburg to be decommissioned in 2019 and 2020, five years earlier than intended when they were built.
“I think it’s fantastic and exciting news that Vattenfall wants to invest in new nuclear power in southern Sweden,” said Carl-Oskar Bolin, chair of the Swedish parliament’s business committee. “This is exactly what’s required to stabilise power prices in the long run.”
Swedish Vocab: att utreda – to investigate
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