Sweden on Tuesday, the 15th of October, presented a defence bill that would increase military spending to 2.4% of GDP next year and boost the armed forces to around 115 000 troops by 2030 in response to the threat from Russia, Defence Minister Pål Jonson said, reports Politico.
“The risk of an attack cannot be ruled out,” Jonson said. “Russia is the main threat to Sweden and it is a threat to the whole [NATO] alliance.”
“Russia’s freedom of action is limited at the moment because its ground forces are trapped on the battlefield [in Ukraine], but we take into account that Russia is willing to take risks both militarily and politically,” he said in a telephone interview with Politico.
Defence spending will increase by 10% next year to 138 million kronas, 2.4% of GDP, as part of a long-term plan.
The country is planning additional military spending of 170 billion kronas (15 billion euros), as well as 35.7 billion kronas for civil defence until 2030, on top of the current budget. This will bring the Swedish defence budget to 2.6% of GDP by 2028, well above the NATO target of at least 2%.
Higher military and civilian defence spending is a return to the Cold War aspiration to be ready for anything. Sweden, however, has been a NATO member since last year, but was technically neutral during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
“During the Cold War we had a strong civil defence,” said Jonson. “After 2015, we rebuilt [it] and in this defence bill we proposed the necessary economic means to make it credible.”
The aim is to prepare Swedes to better handle a “wartime situation”, Jonson said.
To prevent Sweden from becoming an “attractive target” for Moscow, the country is strengthening not only its military but also its energy, transport, healthcare and financial systems, he said.
“Civil and military defence are two sides of the same coin,” Jonson said.
On the military side, money is going towards everything from armoured vehicles to new coastal missile capabilities, missile artillery, three S106 Globaleye reconnaissance aircraft, Black Hawk HK16 helicopters and the latest Gripen 39E fighter jets designed by Saab. Five Visby-class corvettes will be upgraded, and the Navy will acquire three Luleå-class surface combatants.
By 2030, the annual number of conscripts will increase to 10 000 and the total size of the army will increase by around 27 000 men and women to around 115 000. Four new brigades will be created by 2030.
“For decades, investment was insufficient,” said Jonson. “We need to make the burden sharing between America and Europe more equal.”
Also read: Rutte from Ukraine mission HQ: Russia’s threats will not intimidate NATO
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Publish date : 2024-10-16 02:50:00
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