Sweden's PM favours local nuclear deployment

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has spoken in favour of the deployment of nuclear weapons in "peacetime" as part of NATO membership.

He made the announcement at the annual national conference Folk och Frsvar, RBC reports.

"Despite the fact that other Scandinavian countries consider it unlikely, we believe it is possible to deploy nuclear weapons on our territory in peacetime," the prime minister said.

Kristersson added that Sweden will join NATO without any formal conditions, as Denmark and Norway did. These states stressed their neutral status when joining the bloc, while Denmark officially declared before joining that it did not intend to deploy military bases and nuclear weapons on its territory in peacetime.

He also highlighted several advantages for Sweden to joining the bloc. These include the country's geographic location, defence capability, economy, Swedish defence industry, libertarian and individualistic values, internationalism and commitment to peace and global security.