Neutrality--EU--NATO?

EUobserver / Nato strategy to look at EU relations, says Albright: "Polish centre-right MEP Jacek Saryusz Wolski, in charge of EU-Nato relations, said he was struck how the two institutions were working in 'totally separate worlds,' despite having the same concerns and roughly the same armies and citizens, on the European side"

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright leads an expert panel that tries to coordinate the EU and NATO in these times of slashed military budgets. The above comment is interesting in the wake of the London Conference on Afghanistan. Maybe it is "verklighetens folk", or the common man, and the World Elite.

I learned from the radio-debate between Mona Sahlin and Fredrik Reinfeldt in the program Studio Ett the other day that Sahlin is going to go back to the neutrality politics if the Social Democrats win in September. To my content I heard today that the large difference between the two voting blocks have almost equalized so we might not have to see the entire country end up as world common men.

According to a listing performed by the SOM Institute in Sweden our country's security is considered very important by about 70% of the population. This is not a parameter among the most important one's but no one in the press reacted to the question of neutrality in the aftermath of the debate. Health, Freedom and a World in Peace are all more important factors. Instead the press discuss the evil a 100 burkas may do to the Swedes. It is interesting because the symbolism of the burka must in reality be related to national security. If I have understood this correctly, we can't really be neutral and be members of the EU.

There was recently a yearly debate in Sälen Sweden, the congress Folk och Försvar, where the question voiced by MEP Wolski above was not really ventilated. In my humble opinion Sweden has to take the debate between neutrality, the EU and NATO in order to organize a defence policy. Which world do we want to live in? If any conclusion could be drawn from this, we apparently want to live in Europe in Peace but do not view terrorism external to the EU as a problem but fear it from within the EU.

Fredrik Reinfeldt appears to want to live in the EU world with collaboration with NATO when possible. This is probably the most realistic option given the results in the EUbarometer poll where it is clear that some 80% of EU citizens don't want to share foreign policy with the US.