Pål Jonson

Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and Hungarian Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky sign Letter of Intent.

On 17–18 October, Sweden’s Minister for Defence Pål Jonson will meet with his colleagues from other NATO member countries in Brussels. Part of the meeting will also be attended for the first time by the defence ministers of Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand – NATO’s partners known as the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4).

(New version)The Government has now presented a Total Defence Bill for the period 2025–2030. It includes substantial reinforcements of the total defence. Additional funding over SEK 170 billion will be allocated to the military defence and SEK 37.5 billion to the civil defence through 2030. These are historically large investments. Defence expenditures will therefore already reach 2.6 per cent of GDP in 2028.

Swedish Defence University, Stockholm, 24 September 2024. Check against delivery.

The Government today presented a government bill to the Riksdag with proposals on how Sweden will contribute to NATO’s overall deterrence and defence in the North Atlantic area in 2025.

On Friday 4 October, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard will receive Latvia’s Minister for Defence Andris Sprūds at the South Skåne Regiment (P 7) in Revingehed.

Security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is becoming increasingly interlinked. The Government is now presenting a defence policy direction for cooperation between Sweden and countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

In its 2025 Budget Bill, the Government proposes additional funding worth SEK 13 billion to Sweden’s military defence, including upward adjustments and previous decisions. This corresponds to an increase of 10 per cent compared with 2024. The proposal means that appropriations for military defence amount to SEK 138 billion for 2025. For the coming defence decision period 2025–2030, the Government proposes over SEK 170 billion in additional funding. This is a significant increase in resources aimed at implementing measures in the upcoming bill Total Defence 2025–2030. With these increases, defence expenditure for 2025 is forecast to be equivalent to approximately 2.4 per cent of GDP according to NATO’s definition, and equivalent to approximately 2.6 per cent in 2028.

Swedish and Finnish ministers will undertake a number of joint visits on the afternoon of 16 September. Media representatives are welcome to take part in the visits. Contact the relevant press contacts for more information, see below. Note that the list is subject to change.

Today, 9 September, the Swedish Government presented Sweden’s 17th military support package to Ukraine. The package, worth SEK 4.6 billion, meets Ukraine’s military needs and creates freedom of action for the future. It includes donations of materiel, direct procurement, material units and financial contributions.  

Mr Pål Jonson, Minister for Defence, Sweden, today had a bilateral meeting with Ms Jana Černochová, Minister for Defence, Czech Republic, during the security conference GLOBSEC Forum, which is taking place from 30 August to 1 September in Prague. A Joint Declaration on the Enhancement of Defence Cooperation was signed.

On Tuesday, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin signed a Letter of Intent on strengthened defence cooperation between Sweden and Moldova.

This defence policy direction describes the Government’s ambition to develop its defence engagement and cooperation with partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

On 19–20 August, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin will visit Romania and Moldova. The aim is to strengthen relations and cooperation between Sweden and these countries on military and civil defence.

The security situation has deteriorated in both the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions in recent years. When Japan’s Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara met with Sweden’s Minister for Defence Pål Jonson in Stockholm on 25 July, discussions included deepened cooperation to tackle these challenges.

On 25 July, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson will receive a visit from Japan’s Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara for a bilateral meeting at the Maritime Museum in Stockholm.

On 9–11 July, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson took part in the NATO Summit in Washington DC together with Minister for Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström and Minister for Defence Pål Jonson. The member states agreed on new support to Ukraine and measures to strengthen NATO’s capability for deterrence and defence. NATO also celebrated its 75th anniversary during the summit.

On 12 July, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson signed a Letter of Intent concerning security cooperation between Sweden and the U.S. state of New York. The cooperation will be mainly between the Swedish Armed Forces and the New York National Guard as part of the United States’ State Partnership Program (SPP).

Sweden will enter a coalition together with eleven other countries, which, through joint procurement, will support Ukraine’s armed forces with unmanned aerial vehicles – drones. Systems training may also be included.

The Nordic countries are entering into a cooperation to promote access to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden’s airspace for NATO’s air operations. On 9 July, a declaration of cooperation was signed by the countries’ defence ministers in connection with the NATO Summit in Washington DC.