Swedish Government Won’t Sign ‘Problematic’ UN Nuclear Treaty

(Bloomberg) -- Sweden has decided not to sign the UN treaty on nuclear arms, calling it problematic and unrealistic.

The decision was announced by Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom at a press conference in Stockholm, who said the country will remain a “strong voice” against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Reality is complicated and the treaty is problematic, but the decision was made as a militarily alliance-free nation, said Wallstrom. Sweden will become an observer nation to the treaty and won’t close the door on signing it, she said.

Backed by Sweden, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons passed in 2017 in the UN General Assembly by a vote of 122 in favor with just the Netherlands, a NATO member, voting against. The negotiations were boycotted by the world’s nine nuclear-armed countries -- the U.S., China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the U.K. as well as most NATO members.

Sweden, which has close ties with NATO, has been pressured not to sign the treaty by the U.S., newspaper Svenska Dagbladet has reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonas Bergman in Oslo at jbergman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net

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