Elsa Widding, an independent member of the Swedish Parliament and leader of the Ambition Sweden party, fears that Swedish NATO soldiers will end up in Ukraine. She confronted the Swedish Defence Minister Pål Jonson. NewsVoice interviewed Widding after the debate in the Riksdag.
Text and video interview by T. Sassersson, editor, NewsVoice
Widding knows that the US has realised that the war in Ukraine is lost. Therefore, the US has withdrawn and appears to have no plans to supply Ukraine with more weapons, but despite this, Sweden continues to send both money and weapons to Ukraine, prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.
In October 2025, the Swedish Parliament approved a decision to participate in NATO’s collective deterrence and defence activities. This gives the government the mandate in urgent situations (such as when a war is being lost) to deploy Swedish armed forces for a limited period of time.
However, all wars are limited in time, so there is a wide margin of interpretation as to what constitutes “urgent” and how long Swedish soldiers should be replenished as they die on a front line that is supposed to ‘deter’ and “defend” Sweden in neighbouring Ukraine, which is not actually a geographical neighbour (editor’s note).
This legislative amendment concerns NATO’s collective defence and operations, not specifically a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, but Widding concludes that the government can still send soldiers to a war zone such as Ukraine.
Widding believes that Pål Jonson, who controls Sweden in all defence matters, is exposing Sweden to security risks with his general defence policy:
“Sweden’s military support for Ukraine and the DCA agreement, which allows American weapons on Swedish territory, constitute a strong provocation against Russia that exposes Sweden to extreme risks.”
Our conscripted young people are being sacrificed by Pål Jonson and Ulf Kristersson when they are lured into the narrative of an imminent Russian threat, Widding tells NewsVoice.
“They will face certain death if they are sent to Ukraine via NATO.”
Swedish NATO soldiers
Elsa Widding asked Pål Jonson the following questions during the interpellation debate:
- Has Pål Jonson analysed the meaning of “urgent situations”? What situations could cause the government to send Swedish soldiers to Ukraine?
- Can Sweden send elite troops to Ukraine without warning?
- How many Swedish soldiers are at risk of dying in a Swedish military operation in Ukraine?
Jonson did not answer any of these questions, according to Widding.
Source
- Sveriges Riksdag: Risker för svenska soldater vid eventuella insatser i Ukraina