Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, said to Politico on monday, that Europe should be less dependant on China in strategic sectors, in order to be aligned with the United States’ line of action. This entails military, but also dependency on Chinese trade and raw materials, where the U.S. has kept more distance than the European economies.
According to Ulf Kristersson the European countries need to learn more about China, the situation in the Pacific and what threat China poses to other Asian countries. Europe needs to understand the American security concerns regarding China, in order to persuade Donald Trump from pulling away from NATO.
Kristersson said to Politico, that the EU’s de-risking strategy will “align us more with the U.S. approach also on China.” He adds: “the more the democracies around the world can unite, and meet, and sometimes cooperate and sometimes also challenge the Chinese ways of doing things, the better it is.”
He argues, that the European Union needs to be attentive of China as it is a strategic concern of the United States, and if Europe wants to maintain the U.S.’ commitment to Europe, Europe also needs to be committed to the security concerns of the U.S.
The Swedish Prime Minister expressed his viewpoints shortly after a ceremony in Brussels, where the Swedish flag was raised outside the NATO headquarters. Sweden broke 200 years of neutrality, when the Scandinavian country officially joined NATO on 7 March 2024.
Source: Politico
