The number of Swedes who support their country’s accession to NATO is declining. This is evidenced by a recent survey conducted by the sociological centre for public opinion monitoring Verian among a thousand residents of the kingdom, TV4 reports. One of the main explanations for this could be the fading of the conflict in Ukraine and the absence of an imminent threat from Russia.
According to the latest poll, 57 per cent of Swedes say they have a positive attitude towards Sweden’s membership in NATO. Back in July this year, the same figure was 65 per cent, which indicates a clear change in support for joining the military bloc, TV4 reports.
According to Niklas Eklund, professor of political science at Umeå University, the public opinion of fellow citizens has been influenced by a number of events, and first of all by the fading of the conflict in Ukraine. The scientist told a Swedish TV channel that the sense of imminent threat that existed among the Swedish population in the spring and summer of 2022 has begun to recede.
According to TV4, the number of NATO opponents increased only slightly, while the number of doubters rose from 17 per cent to 23 per cent among some 1,000 respondents.
“Unsurprisingly, people in general are a bit tired of the process of Sweden joining NATO and are perhaps beginning to wonder what kind of organisation it really is. How is it that Finland has been able to so easily become a member of the EU while we are kept in a quandary? In addition to this, you can imagine that people are starting to wonder whether it is really worth joining this organisation,” explained Eklund.