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The Swedish defense must be strengthened. Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist announces the largest rearmament in decades.
On Thursday, Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist laid out the plan for a major defense investment by 2025. Photo: Jessica Gow / AP / NTB
The focus of the initiative is the army, which must be represented throughout the country.
On Thursday, the Swedish government presented its defense plan for the period 2021 to 2025. The foundations are laid for a new organization that will be operational in 2030.
The defense budget will increase to SEK 89 billion in 2025, an increase of SEK 29 billion from this year’s level.
The government believes that the security policy situation in the immediate area has deteriorated and points to Russia as the country that characterizes the threat landscape.
– And signal
– Therefore, the total defense must be strengthened, Hultqvist told a news conference on Thursday.
He pointed to the Russian aggression against Georgia, where the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are under Russian control. Hultqvist also mentioned Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, the protracted conflict in Ukraine, extensive exercises, and the country’s reconstruction on the Kola peninsula, the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea.
– This is a signal for the Swedish people, a signal for our partners and for the immediate area, said the Defense Minister.
The goal is for Sweden to survive the war and crisis for three months, until international aid arrives. When this goal is achieved, Hultqvist could not say.
– The time we handle a crisis or conflict situation has to do with the type of situation in question, he said.
Sweden is not a member of the NATO defense alliance.
Error
The defense minister believes that the Swedish disarmament that began in the 2000s and lasted until 2015 was too far and a mistake.
He warns future politicians not to make the same mistake again and stresses that it takes a long time to rebuild military capabilities.
– If the security policy starts to shine a little more the sun and the weather improves, it does not rust! Hultqvist says.
The proposal presented on Thursday means that the Swedish Armed Forces’ war organization will grow from the current 60,000 positions to 90,000 in 2030. This also includes civilian employees and the National Guard.
Several disbanded units will be restored to train more soldiers, and the number serving for the first time will increase to 8,000 annually starting in 2025. This is double compared to 2019.
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