Sweden's Historic Defense Investment

All political parties in the Swedish parliament have agreed on a defense upgrade, announced at a press conference. 300 billion SEK will be allocated to defense in the coming years.

– Our children and grandchildren should not have to learn to speak Russian, says Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson.

3.5% of GDP will be spent on military defense and 1.5% on civil defense, aligning with the requirements NATO is expected to decide on next week.

– It is a historic agreement. Sweden is united, Sweden is strong, says Defense Minister Pål Jonson at the press conference.

Increasing National Debt

A total of 300 billion SEK will be invested, with 50 billion allocated to civil defense. The investment will be financed through loans, increasing the national debt by about 3 percentage points, according to the government.

– To be clear, we are doing this so our children and grandchildren do not have to learn to speak Russian, says Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson.

The eight parties have discussed the investment throughout the spring and are now in agreement. However, there is disagreement on how to finance the upgrade. The Social Democrats and other opposition parties, for example, want a special preparedness tax, which the government opposes.