Lies about our Defence cooperation with USA

Another letter to a newspaper. This one was published by Ystads Allehanda 14 June 2024.

Spoiler: Another letter to a newspaper. This one was published by Ystads Allehanda 14 June 2024

This is another post about our Defence Cooperation Agreement with the USA. Or rather about the lies about the agreement. I have written about this earlier so if you remember those posts, you can skip this one. The reason I send this letters to the newspapers is that they are full of letters and op-eds spewing lies about this agreement. The letters are obviously coordinated. They are signed by people who appear in the same organisations that support the kremlin’s genocidal war. Some are openly pro-kremlin while others claim that they oppose the kremlin’s war but say that the only way to peace is to use diplomacy and negotiations. They do this fully aware of what the kremlin’s troops do on the occupied Ukrainian territories. Thus, they are de facto advocating the kremlin’s atrocities against Ukrainians.

In their letter on June 3, the writers repeat many of the lies being spread about our Defense Cooperation Agreement, the DCA, with the United States.

The writers claim that it is undemocratic despite the fact that it follows the procedure laid down by our constitution, chapter 10 in the Instrument of Government. Furthermore, it is falsely claimed that the agreement "has no connection to NATO". Nevertheless, Article 12 of the Agreement specifically refers to Article VII of NATO's Agreements with Host Countries.

A typical opponent of our Defence Cooperation Agreement with the USA

Source: AI-generated image by me.

The most absurd claim is probably that "not even active politicians know the content, at least not completely." Here, the writers succeed with the artifice of both claiming that the agreement that can be read on the government's website is unknown to everyone and implying that they themselves certainly know parts that are not included.

In addition, the writers falsely claim that the United States has free access anytime and in any way to private land, airfields, harbors, roads, and airfields. And that American personnel and their relatives have criminal immunity in Sweden.

None of this is true. In the agreement (Ministry Publication Series DS 2024:2) Article 3 states that, upon request, Sweden shall take "reasonable measures to facilitate US forces, US suppliers and Swedish suppliers to temporarily gain access to and use private land and private facilities in support of US forces ( including roads, ports and airports) as well as public land and public facilities (including roads, ports and airports) that are not included in the agreed facilities or areas, including those owned or controlled by Sweden or local authorities.” Reasonable and temporarily.

No, American soldiers and other personnel who commit crimes do not have criminal immunity in Sweden. Jurisdiction is regulated in Articles 12 and 13 of the agreement and in Article VII of the NATO Charter. The title of Article 12 reads “Criminal Jurisdiction” and the title of Article 13 reads “Deprivation of Liberty and the Right to Contact”. Article 13 would be redundant if Article 12 granted US soldiers and other personnel immunity from criminal law.

The fact that the Danish and Norwegian agreements mention nuclear weapons is due to the fact that they refer to previously entered into agreements on the prohibition of these. Neither Finland nor Sweden have such an agreement, so there is therefore no reason to insert the corresponding text into our agreements.

With the text of the agreement seems to have gone under the writers' radar.