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Russia invests more than SEK 500 billion a year in its armed forces.
In a statement, the Russian government now accuses Sweden of renewing too much.
– This is a typical disinformation operation, says Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist (S).
After many years of modest defense allocations, Sweden will now renew a bit, it was said in the defense bill on October 15.
Investments include new regiments in Sollefteå, Falun and Kristinehamn, among others, and in the navy, ships will be modernized and two new corvettes will be ordered.
Photo: Swedish Armed Forces / TT
The contingency effort by the Swedish Armed Forces in Gotland and around the Baltic Sea in August 2020.
But the investment has not appreciated in Moscow.
In a letter on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova describes the Swedish defense bill as a “sharp increase” in the defense budget that “can only cause concern.”
“It depends on Russia”
The Russian government further claims that the so-called defense plug, negotiated by the Social Democrats, the Center Party and the Liberals, has been promoted by NATO and is based on an “alarmist scenario consisting of an armed attack on Sweden, where Russia it was mentioned more than a hundred times, mainly as a potential threat to the security of Sweden ”.
In a letter on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova describes the Swedish defense bill as a “sharp increase” in the defense budget that “can only cause concern.”
Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist has taken note of the Russian move and tells Aftonbladet by phone that it is Russia that has created a situation in which more defense funding is required and that the Swedish side ” it is not naive. “
– The security policy situation in our immediate area has worsened and this is basically due to Russia.
Photo: Stefan Mattsson
Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist (S).
Peter Hultqvist lists Russia’s actions in Georgia in 2008, the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, marking and exercise activities in the Baltic Sea region and a “substantial rearmament in the Murmansk and Kola areas “.
– We see that Russia from time to time is prepared to use military force to achieve political ends and we also see these fake news and disinformation campaigns and other activities taking place. So we build our strategy based on the realities that we can see, says Peter Hultqvist.
“Total error”
The defense minister is particularly opposed to information that NATO has pushed forward the Swedish defense bill.
– That we are pressured by NATO is totally wrong. We make our own decisions and do our own analysis. I think this is a typical disinformation operation carried out by the Russian side. You try to spread an image that is not true.
– And that Russia is mentioned more than a hundred times in these bills is because they acted as they do.
Of what Russia says to be concerned about the Swedish defense budget, Peter Hultqvist also calls disinformation and a kind of black paint from Sweden.
– It is a way of trying to pursue some type of misinformative and negative vision of what we do. But we have no other ambitions than to defend and mark our sovereignty and integrity. So there is no reason for them to worry about anything from us.
Hundreds of billions
According to the Swedish defense bill, defense spending in 2025 will be 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, GDP.
Russia, for its part, has been investing in defense for several years, and last year the share of military spending in the country’s GDP was 3.9 percent, or $ 65.1 billion, according to SIPRI. This corresponds to just over SEK 567 billion.
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