The government plans to give the Armed Forces an additional SEK 32 billion over the next two years, reports SVT Nyheter.
Thus, Sweden will reach NATO’s goal that at least two percent of the member countries’ GDP should go to defense.
The government wants to greatly increase defense funding in the coming years. In total, it is about SEK 20 billion next year and a further SEK 12 billion the following year.
– It is absolutely necessary to meet increasing costs, but also to build a stronger defense in the light of the experiences we can draw from the war in Ukraine. We have perhaps the most serious security political situation in the world since the end of the Second World War and then we have to make significant defense investments, says Minister of Defense Pål Jonson (M) to SVT Nyheter.
The planned additions would mean that next year Sweden will reach the so-called two percent goal, according to NATO’s way of calculating.
– In the government declaration, it says that we will reach 2 percent of GDP by 2026 at the latest. We will achieve 2.1 percent according to the NATO definition, which is a little wider than how we have previously calculated. My assessment is that for the foreseeable future we will need to spend more than 2 percent of GDP on defence, says Jonson to the television channel.
In total, the defense budget is expected to amount to approximately SEK 117 billion next year.