Opposition united on EU policy: report
A new set of common EU policies forged by Sweden’s three-party opposition coalition has seen the Left Party and the Green Party sacrifice several of their traditional anti-EU stances.
A new set of common EU policies forged by Sweden’s three-party opposition coalition has seen the Left Party and the Green Party sacrifice several of their traditional anti-EU stances.
The Red-Green coalition will stand for election on a largely EU-friendly platform, according to the terms of an agreement viewed by newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
“Our foreign policy direction will lie to the left of [foreign minister] Carl Bildt. But when it comes to taking action for Swedish interests there won’t be any real differences,” said Social Democrat foreign policy spokesman Urban Ahlin to the newspaper.
The two traditionally eurosceptic junior partners in the coalition have pledged to accept increased supranational cooperation within the EU in areas such as refugee policy, foreign policy and security policy. The Green Party, for instance, has abandoned its opposition to a beefed up EU role in fighting organized crime through increased cooperation between the police, customs and prosecutors.
The joint policy document also includes passages outlining the Red-Green coalition’s resistance to federalist tendencies in the EU or the creation of a fully fledged defensive military alliance. The Left Party has however agreed to support provisions ensuring that EU countries help defend any member state that comes under attack.
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A new set of common EU policies forged by Sweden’s three-party opposition coalition has seen the Left Party and the Green Party sacrifice several of their traditional anti-EU stances.
The Red-Green coalition will stand for election on a largely EU-friendly platform, according to the terms of an agreement viewed by newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
“Our foreign policy direction will lie to the left of [foreign minister] Carl Bildt. But when it comes to taking action for Swedish interests there won’t be any real differences,” said Social Democrat foreign policy spokesman Urban Ahlin to the newspaper.
The two traditionally eurosceptic junior partners in the coalition have pledged to accept increased supranational cooperation within the EU in areas such as refugee policy, foreign policy and security policy. The Green Party, for instance, has abandoned its opposition to a beefed up EU role in fighting organized crime through increased cooperation between the police, customs and prosecutors.
The joint policy document also includes passages outlining the Red-Green coalition’s resistance to federalist tendencies in the EU or the creation of a fully fledged defensive military alliance. The Left Party has however agreed to support provisions ensuring that EU countries help defend any member state that comes under attack.
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