Nuclear power is a key tool for reducing dependence on Russian oil and gas, while also helping to provide a cheaper alternative as Europe faces a heating crisis this winter, according to Sweden’s foreign minister.
Tobias Billström, who assumed his role as foreign minister in October, told Fox News Digital that his government believes there is a need to “step up when it comes to building more nuclear power” because Sweden is a small nation and it needs “security, cleanliness, energy security” which is “cheap”.
“We want to see more nuclear reactors under construction,” Billström said during an interview at the Aspen Security Forum in Washington, DC. “We are talking about doing it with a credit system, but we are in close cooperation and in contact with Swedish industry will be able to finance the construction of new nuclear reactors”.
Nuclear power has proven a contentious issue in Europe over the past decade, with Germany moving to close its plants and France planning to build new ones as various nations reconsider the best direction when it comes to energy nuclear. The German state minister, Tobias Lindner, recently told Fox News Digital that “resistance against nuclear energy” is part of the “DNA of German society”.
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Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström attends a joint press conference amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kiev, Ukraine November 28, 2022.
(Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko/Pool)
Energy prices have soared due to sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine and as a result of Moscow’s drastic reduction of gas supplies to Europe, including the indefinite closure of the North gas pipeline Stream 1.
Asked whether Europe should do more to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, Billström agreed and noted that “Russia’s aggression in Ukraine” showed “exactly how precarious the [the] the whole situation is.”
“We should all take the situation that has arisen very seriously with so many countries facing a dire situation when it comes to the cost to households due to high energy prices,” Billström said.
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Unlike many other European countries, Sweden is not dependent on Russian gas, but Russia remains a major concern, so much so that Sweden voted to join NATO after decades of neutrality for security reasons.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds a joint news conference with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström after their meetings at the State Department in Washington, DC on Dec. 8, 2022. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
((Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images))
Stockholm has been working to strengthen its ties with the United States and other allies to better protect itself in the face of potential threats, including cyberattacks.
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“We would like closer collaboration and cooperation bilaterally between the US and Sweden, because we know and believe that we can offer a lot of things for cybersecurity, both with technological resources, but also with intelligence,” Billström explained. .
Billström noted that the United States and Sweden have a “very good” relationship, recounting how he experienced “nothing but goodwill from representatives of Congress and the administration” during his visit to Washington DC
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“I am really looking forward, both as Sweden’s foreign minister” and as Sweden as the new holder of the presidency of the Council of the European Union “to maintain these good relations, to expand them and to see that the United States, the Sweden and Europe are in a good concerted mode,” Billström said.
In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP from outside Iran, Iranians protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on October 1, 2022, after she was arrested by morality police in Tehran .
(AP Photo/Middle East Images, File)
That partnership extends to the People’s Republic of China, with Billström emphasizing the need for “close cooperation between the EU and the US when it comes to matters relating to China”.
The US and Sweden are also providing a united front against Iran. Stockholm strongly condemned Tehran’s recent execution of a protester after three months of demonstrations following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
“We watch very seriously as we see Iran now embarking on this method of trying to extinguish what is ultimately, you know, a belief of freedom and a will for freedom among these women and girls in the streets of Tehran and other city,” Billstrom said.
“Personally, I have been very vocal about the need to put it on the agenda. At the next meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Brussels, Iran will be a specific item on the agenda thanks to the Swedish government’s efforts to get it there.” .
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“I think we should stand side by side with those who want to have freedom of expression on the streets of Iran,” he added. “Women and girls are now paying a heavy price for the brutality of the security forces,” she added. “We have to show Iran that this kind of method is unacceptable.”
