There was a post from a mass media site the other day saying Turkey was approving Sweden to join NATO. This turned out to be a bit of wishful thinking.

      • alexius@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        I really wanna know the opinion of a citizen of Sweden, the decision is about them. Do you currently consider Russia a threat to Sweden? It seems to me that they’re depleted after invading Ukraine and more or less failing. Would NATO not intervene in a hypothetical russian invasion of Sweden because of this vote?

        • Serinus@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          Would you prefer a fight like Ukraine’s (even if you win), or would you rather make sure the fight never happens?

          It’s clear Putin doesn’t care about Russians dying. They’ve always just thrown blood at their targets.

          • alexius@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            arrow-down
            5
            ·
            1 year ago

            I’m worried at some aspects of your comment that seem xenophobic in nature. Most Russians disagree with the decision to attack Ukraine and even a dictator like Putin can’t pull the string forever without breaking it. We already saw the consequences of him having to rely on mercenaries a couple weeks ago. He had to rely on them because there are not enough people willing to fight. So russians in general aren’t some zombies or pawns, we shouldn’t look at them that way.

            On the other hand, I don’t see a real risk of Russia invading Sweden, and don’t even consider NATO’s response to a Russian’s hypothetical threat of invasion to another country to be the same, so in the end, while they didn’t get to join, I think they can move on without any damage and try joining later when conditions change. They’ll still be de facto protected.

            • Waldhuette@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              6
              arrow-down
              2
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              Your comment is really weird. You are arguing about something the person you are replying to didn’t even say.

              They didn’t say most Russians agree with the war. They also didn’t say Russians are zombies or pawns.

              All they said was that Russian (Soviet union) leaders have a history of sacrificing their own citizens. That’s an undeniable fact.

              And stating that is in no way xenophobic.

              • alexius@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                3
                ·
                1 year ago

                In my view, the comment implies that Russia invading Sweden is a decision that falls solely on Putin’s will. How is that not something that reduce russians to pawns or zombies, or them being ok with whatever war their leader instructs? They are invisible to the commenter, and that’s disturbing to me, honestly.

                Of course Putin is unable to start yet another war. He’s only partially getting away with Ukraine, and even with years of planning and propaganda, he’s struggling to stay in it, and is relying heavily in straight up mercenaries who may or may not be russian, they’re just hired assassins.

              • alexius@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                3
                arrow-down
                3
                ·
                1 year ago

                An entire comment for you to read explaining why, but you got instatriggered and lashed out.

        • Grant_M@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          6
          ·
          1 year ago

          NATO is a defensive alliance that only defends (counterattacks) when attacked. If Sweden is not in NATO and attacked by ruzzia terrorists, they’d be supported in the same way Ukraine is being supported now. If in NATO and attacked by ruzzia, ruzzia would be instantly flattened by NATO.

    • Sjatar@sjatar.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      The idea was that Sweden and Finland would enter NATO togheter. Finland bordering Russia is by far the biggest argument for them and Sweden also semi borders Russia by ocean access.

      This discussion was brought up early in the war when it was not clear how strong Russia was.

      For me I don’t see the point in joining anymore but was a bigger consideration early.

      Though exiting the deal when Finland already joined would put a dent in our relations. Sad we will lose our decades of neutrality because of one dictator biting of more then they can chew, but so be it.

      • alexius@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        Thank you for a comprehensive answer, i’m a firm believer that geopolitics shouldn’t be assumed from an outsider’s perspective. I truly appreciate that you took your time to explain how this is understood by the people of Sweden instead of accusing me of things and downvoting my ass.

        I agree with you in the aspect that it seems like Russia is not strong enough to pose a threat anymore, and understand how this feels like you were left out while Finland didn’t. Hopefully this decision doesn’t have a true impact in your lives and a military alliance isn’t ever needed for your safety.

        • Sjatar@sjatar.net
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 year ago

          From the looks of it, Sweden will try until we get in most likely. Outside of a referendums to not join I don’t see us backing down from it ^^ Not sure how a referendums would go. I’d bet on a very divided 50/50 vote.