Squeaky Clean? Swedish ‘Neutrality’ Won’t Stop Successful Arms Export

Despite its image of neutrality, Sweden might not be all that innocent after all.

When it comes to exporting arms to other countries, Sweden is a true "arms peddler extraordinaire," Politico.eu reported.

Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist is about to strike an arms deal with India, selling its JAS Gripen fighter jets to the Asian giant, something which France, one of the world's top arms exporters, found very hard to accomplish.

Although France and India finally agreed on the sale of 36 French Rafale fighter jets, the deal can hardly be considered successful for France: the current deal fades away from the originally planned 126-plane deal in the works.

India still needs planes to expand its military arsenal and the "neutral" Sweden was quick to step in to fill the void. One of the secrets of Sweden's success is the country's willingness to transfer its own high-level technology, something that France, for example, was not eager to do.

"JAS Gripen fills the niche for an affordable combat aircraft, and Sweden is willing to engage in high-level technology transfer," said Sam Perlo-Freeman, the head of the military expenditure program at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

If offering potential customers technology transfer is completely legal and nice on behalf of Sweden, some of Stockholm's arms exports were marred with "murky practices," Politico.eu reported.

First, before some of its arms deals, the Swedish government used socio-cultural events, as well as its own influence to promote the positive image of Sweden and its arms manufacturers.

"During Sweden's campaign trying to sell Gripen to Switzerland last spring, Sweden used design, rock concerts and a royal visit to help create a positive image of Sweden and thus Gripen," said Anna Ek, president of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society.

The government's interference distinguishes arms trade from other forms of trade, which is unfair to say the least, Ek said.

Second, although on paper Sweden claims that it doesn't export its arms to dictatorships and countries at war, the Swedish government, for some interesting reason, approved sales to Afghanistan, Burma and Iraq.