Civil defence

Today, the Government, together with the Social Democratic Party, the Sweden Democrats, the Left Party, the Centre Party and the Green Party, presents an agreement to enable a historic expansion of Sweden’s defence to meet NATO’s new defence spending targets – expected to be 3.5 per cent of GDP – and that this expansion will be achieved rapidly through temporary financing via loans. This is a historic show of strength. If NATO were to agree on an additional target of 1.5 per cent of GDP for broader defence and security-related investments, the parties are in agreement that Sweden should also meet that target.

On Friday 13 June, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson received NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for a bilateral meeting in Stockholm.

On May 16, Sweden signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the protection of critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The MoU was concluded with the Baltic Sea countries within the EU, along with Norway, Iceland and the EU.

SEK 25 billion to strengthen military defence; an additional SEK 16.5 billion to increased 2025 ‘Ukraine framework’; and a SEK 96 million package of targeted measures to counter hybrid threats. These are the proposals the Government will present in the forthcoming Spring Amending Budget. The Government and the Sweden Democrats have also agreed on a funding model to ensure that Sweden is able meet to a new, higher NATO spending target.

On 27 February 2025, the Government instructed the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency to enter into a cooperation agreement with Ukraine on critical infrastructure. This cooperation lays the groundwork for exchanges of experience between Sweden and Ukraine to better protect critical infrastructure.

On 19 February 2025, Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin received Poland’s Minister of the Interior and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak for bilateral talks. The two ministers signed a Letter of Intent to work further on the strategic partnership agreement between Sweden and Poland.  

On 19 February 2025, a Letter of Intent was signed between Sweden and Poland to work further on the strategic partnership agreement between Sweden and Poland.

Defence and security are becoming increasingly important in Swedish space policy. Sweden will therefore pursue a cohesive and knowledge-based space policy that contributes to the development of our crisis preparedness and total defence. With this strategy, we are strengthening the defence and security dimension of space policy to make Sweden better equipped to face challenges in space and more capable of utilising space for defence and security.

On 4 February Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin received the Republic of Moldova’s Minister of Defence Anatolie Nosatîi at Karlberg Palace.

On Tuesday 4 February, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin will receive Minister of Defense of the Republic of Moldova, Anatolie Nosatîi at Karlberg Castle.

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Speech by Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin, delivered at the Folk och Försvar Annual National Conference in Sälen on 13 January 2025. Check against delivery.

A letter of intent on strengthened defence cooperation between Sweden and Moldova was signed on 20 August 2024.

In a joint statement, the Nordic and Baltic Ministers of Digitalisation emphasised the importance of enhanced cooperation concerning underwater infrastructure for electronic communication.

On 5 November 2024, Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin and Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko signed a statement of intent between Ukraine and Sweden on closer collaboration in the areas of civil protection and national resilience.

Sweden and Ukraine yesterday signed a statement of intent on closer collaboration in the areas of civil protection and national resilience. Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin also presented a civil support package that the Government intends to approve. The package includes approximately 40 000 protective face masks, worth SEK 100 million, from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, and two environmental protection vessels and additional materiel from the Swedish Coast Guard.

(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.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday 16 October. Following the meeting, they will hold a joint press conference.

On 6 September, the Regional Civil Protection Forum was held in Vilnius, Lithuania. A joint statement was issued in conjunction with the forum. Sweden was represented by Johan Berggren, State Secretary to Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin.