Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has reported the countryʼs largest military rearmament plan since the Cold War.
He noted that Swedenʼs defense spending already exceeds NATOʼs 2% target, but that it is not enough.
"Our goal is to achieve an increase in this indicator at the NATO Hague Summit, and we are doing our part," he emphasized.
The Swedish government has unveiled a plan aimed at increasing the countryʼs defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2030. The plan calls for investments of almost 300 billion Swedish kronor (approximately $30 billion), which will be financed through loans.
The government added that starting in 2025, they plan to purchase weapons worth 25 billion Swedish kronor ($2.5 billion) with deliveries in 2026-2028. Sweden plans to purchase air defense systems, drones, rocket artillery, personal protective equipment, and ammunition.
The government also proposes to allocate an additional 96 billion Swedish kronor ($9.5 billion) in funding for 2025 for a new package of measures to strengthen measures to counter hybrid threats.
In addition, the Swedish government intends to increase the adopted economic framework for military support to Ukraine from 25 billion Swedish kronor ($2.5 billion) to just over 40 billion Swedish kronor ($4 billion) by 2025.
- Sweden is not the first country to increase defense spending since the Russian invasion. In particular, on March 21, the German parliamentʼs upper house supported a plan for billions of euros in defense and infrastructure investments, which would amount to a trillion euros.
- And in early March, EU leaders at a summit in Brussels supported initiatives to increase defense spending. Among the approved initiatives are loans to EU countries for €150 billion for defense investments.
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