Sweden, New Zealand plan ‘strategic Nato alignment’

RUSSIA’S foreign ministry said yesterday that Sweden’s plans to set up a Nato military base on Gotland island in the Baltic Sea were a provocation that would turn the sea into an area of geopolitical confrontation, the RIA news agency reported.

The ministry said this would increase risks for shipping in the Baltic.

Earlier this week as the Western military alliance turned 75 menaced by an aggressive Russia and the spectre of Donald Trump’s return to power, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg and US President Joe Biden said the US and Europe must stick together.

The Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 re-invigorated Nato as it was confronted by one of the most serious challenges since it emerged from the ashes of World War II. The alliance has bolstered its forces across eastern Europe and grown to 32 members after Finland and Sweden joined its ranks.

Yesterday, New Zealand said it was ready to sign a new co-operation deal with Nato, as the country rethinks security in the face of regional tensions and growing Chinese military might.

Foreign minister Winston Peters said after a two-day visit to Nato headquarters in Brussels that a “partnership programme” with the alliance would be agreed “in the coming months”.

Since the centre-right coalition was elected last October, New Zealand has looked to deepen military ties with “traditional” Western allies.

New Zealand has had a partnership with Nato since 2012, but the new deal is expected to foster much closer strategic alignment.

Wellington is also looking at joining Australian, US and UK joint research into military use of artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons and other emerging technologies. Since World War II, New Zealand has been a part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance with Australia, Canada, the UK and the US (Aukus).

The country’s dependence on trade with China – its largest commercial partner – has forced Wellington to walk a fine diplomatic line between Beijing and Washington.

“New Zealand is playing a dangerous game,” Geoffrey Miller, a geopolitical analyst at the Victoria University of Wellington told AFP.

He worries that signing a new deal with Nato or joining with Aukus could be seen as a “red flag” by key trade partner China. |