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Photo: Tomas Oneborg / SvD / TT
Negotiations by the parties on the direction of the 2021-25 defense were interrupted on Wednesday. Stock Photography.
The time pressure to reach a defense deal now on Friday, May 15 is increasing.
Wednesday’s negotiations have been canceled.
The reason is, according to TT, that the parties have requested additional evidence on the cost of the different defense initiatives.
Negotiations were also scheduled for Tuesday night, but were also canceled.
The negotiations take place within the framework of the defense committee, which includes all parliamentary parties. The goal is a defense policy agreement that will form the basis of the government’s full defense bill this fall. Among other things, it should include a focus on military defense in the years 2021-2025.
Increased time pressure
Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist (S) declared just over a week ago that he is aiming for a deal until May 15. If you want to achieve that goal, time is short. Negotiations are expected to resume on Thursday.
TT has spoken to representatives of the parties. Some are skeptical that such an agreement can be reached quickly, while others are more hopeful.
However, there is no obstacle to continue negotiations after May 15.
Already last spring, the parties to the defense committee reached a broad consensus on a new war organization that should be fully implemented by 2030. The problem is that the increase in defense appropriations by 2025 that the government, the Center and the liberals agreed last fall is not enough to accomplish all of that. the defense committee proposed.
Increase in credits over time.
The bourgeois parties and the SD are said to be adamant that the defense committee’s proposal should be implemented. They want Hultqvist to agree to some kind of commitment that defense credits should continue to increase after 2025. M, KD, L, C and SD aim to increase the long-term defense budget to two percent of GDP.
The five parties together have a majority in Parliament, but one question is whether they will be able to follow a common line. C and L also have to consider budget cooperation with the government. Among other parties, there are suspicions that parallel negotiations are taking place only between the government, C and L.
The negotiations are not just about long-term defense credits. They also discuss what should be prioritized during the years 2021-2025, what initiatives should be put in the future and what initiatives should be scaled down.
Furthermore, the Armed Forces want to put more weight on the airline and the Navy compared to what defense committee politicians have suggested.
Difficult priorities
According to TT, discussions in the negotiations have been discussed, for example, to postpone several of the initiatives proposed by the Defense Committee. An example is that the reduced mechanized brigade for the Stockholm area would not be fully implemented until after 2030. Another example is that one of the two new proposed Gävleklass corvettes would not be delivered until after 2030.
A lower tier has also been discussed for certain initiatives, for example, just one instead of two new regiments to train local defense associations. According to TT, Östersund and Sollefteå have been mentioned as possible locations for that regiment.
It has also been discussed in the negotiations that certain initiatives proposed by the Defense Committee on weapons systems are eliminated.
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