Military defence

Speech by Minister for Defence Pål Jonson at the Swedish National Day reception organised by the Embassy of Sweden in the Philippines on 6 June 2024 in Manila. Check against delivery.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson received NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday 7 June. The agenda included bilateral talks and a demonstration of the Swedish Armed Forces’ activities on naval vessel HSwMS Carlskrona. They also held a joint press conference.

On 13–14 June, Pål Jonson will take part in a meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence in Brussels for the first time since Sweden became a full member of NATO. The agenda includes discussions about NATO’s deterrence and defence capabilities and preparations ahead of the NATO Summit in Washington DC in July.

The Government has decided to contribute aircraft to NATO Air Policing. The Swedish Armed Forces will thus have leeway to provide aircraft in the near future to carry out aerial surveillance under NATO’s command.

Sweden held the NORDEFCO chairmanship in 2023 and the annual report provides a summary of the year. The Nordic Defence Cooperation was further deepened in 2023. Among other things, a new vision for the cooperation was adopted, Vision 2030.

The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) is once again increasing its presence in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic to help protect critical underwater infrastructure.

Friday 31 May, Prime Minster Ulf Kristersson hosted a Nordic-Ukrainian Summit in Stockholm. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Iceland’s Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson took part.

At the third Nordic-Ukrainian Summit in Stockholm on 31 May, the Prime Ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland and the Presidents of Ukraine and Finland issued the following statement:

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson hosted a Nordic-Ukrainian Summit in Stockholm today, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the heads of state and government of the other Nordic countries taking part.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have signed an agreement on bilateral security cooperation between Sweden and Ukraine.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in Sweden to take part in a Nordic-Ukrainian Summit hosted by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Today, 29 May, the Government is presenting its 16th and largest military support package to Ukraine to date since Russia’s full-scale invasion began. Sweden will provide Ukraine with a completely new capability to strengthen its collective air defence. The package, which will be part of an upcoming additional amending budget, amounts to SEK 13.3 billion and will meet Ukraine’s prioritised needs.

On Friday 31 May, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will host a Nordic summit with the President of Finland and the heads of government of Denmark, Norway and Iceland.

Minister for Defence Pål Jonson will travel to Singapore, Australia and the Philippines in the first week of June. He will participate in the Shangri-La Dialogue international defence summit and several bilateral meetings.

Innovative emerging and disruptive technologies that benefit defence and security are of central importance amid the intensifying political, ideological and economic tensions shaping the international situation. The Government is now presenting a strategic approach for defence innovation that collects and clarifies political ambitions and measures going forward. This strategic approach creates conditions to accelerate and mutually strengthen innovation in the military and civilian sectors, contributing to Sweden’s defence capability and innovative capacity, increased competitiveness and enhanced security.

The Government has decided to submit the Agreement on Defense Cooperation bill between Sweden and the United States to the Swedish Riksdag. The agreement complements Sweden’s NATO accession and strengthens the country’s defence by facilitating US military presence in Sweden.

On 6–10 May, Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin and State Secretary Johan Berggren are visiting Washington D.C., where the aim is to strengthen transatlantic relations and deepen cooperation with the US on total defence and cybersecurity.

On 5 March, Swedish Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius signed a letter of intent on deeper defence cooperation between Sweden and Germany.

In connection with the NORDEFCO ministerial meeting on 29–30 April in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, the Nordic defence ministers signed Vision 2030, a steering document on Nordic defence cooperation going forward. 

The Swedish Government has decided to task the Armed Forces with planning and preparing Swedish participation in NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence, Forward Land Forces (FLF), in Latvia. The contribution will consist of a force equalling the size of a reduced battalion of 600 soldiers. It will be part of a brigade led by Canada beginning in early 2025.