Municipalities and regions

(New version) Security in Sweden’s neighbourhood has deteriorated dramatically in recent years. The Government is therefore carrying out the most sweeping modernisation of Sweden’s total defence since the end of the Cold War. In the Budget Bill for 2026, the Tidö Parties propose a new package for stronger civil defence. Funding will go towards better stockpiling of health care products, renovating Sweden’s protective shelters, building up new food contingency reserves and improving preparedness efforts of Sweden’s municipalities and regions. The Government proposes allocating SEK 3 billion to civil defence in 2026, SEK 4.2 billion in 2027 and SEK 4.6 billion in 2028. These proposals total approximately SEK 12 billion in 2026–2028.

To combat crime and increase security, investments in the judicial system and criminal law measures must be combined with effective and proactive crime prevention efforts. The Government has therefore presented a national strategy that focuses on social crime prevention measures. The aim includes preventing children and young people from becoming involved in criminal networks and other types of crime.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency has been tasked with sharing knowledge about honour-based violence and oppression in connection with stays abroad. The Government has now also tasked the Agency with analyzing and presenting proposals for a national reporting and follow-up system for cases where a child or adult has been taken abroad. This involves determining the scope of the problem and establishing an approach to systematic follow-up.

The Barents cooperation has laid the foundation for far-reaching people-to-people cooperation and high-level political dialogue in the European Arctic. The 25th anniversary of cooperation was marked by a seminar at the Permanent Mission of Sweden to the European Union on 5 June to highlight cooperation in an EU perspective and to look ahead.