The government has decided to re-introduce civil service as of 19 January next year. In a first step, it applies to people who must be able to be called in to strengthen the rescue service in case of heightened alertness.
– All this is a result of the lessons learned from the importance of civil defense in Ukraine right now. The civil service is reactivated in parallel with the Swedish conscription. It will be expanded later. I believe that it is an incredibly central part of the combined Swedish total defense capability, says Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) at a press conference.
No civil servants have been trained since 2008, but at the beginning of the year, the Swedish Agency for Community Protection and Preparedness (MSB) was tasked with preparing a reactivation.
MSB has previously said that 1,500–2,000 people with rescue service competence can be covered initially. The need for the rescue service in the long term is estimated at 10,000–20,000 people.