According to Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, further investment will be made as soon as possible. The reason is the deteriorating security situation.
Sweden plans to increase its defense spending to 2% of GDP due to the deteriorating security situation in its neighborhood, says Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson according to Swedish media.
In the second year, Swedish defense spending was about 1.2 per cent of GDP, according to the statistical service Staista, according to the news agency STT.
“Unprecedented increase”
Last year, Sweden’s defense budget was SEK 66 billion, or just over EUR 6.1 billion. The planned increase would increase the budget to about SEK 108 billion, or more than ten billion euros, SVT says.
Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvistin according to the investment is unprecedented. It can be compared to an increase in the defense budget in the 1950s.
Sweden’s defense budget has shrunk since the end of the Cold War and has not been 2% of GDP since the 1990s.
According to Andersson, defense spending is set to increase “as soon as possible.” However, Hultqvist notes that it will take several years to strengthen the defense, as much money as possible is sought.
The government is not setting any timetable at this point, nor is it estimating where the money for the increase will come from.
Earlier, the Social Democratic government had decided to increase defense spending. The previous plan was to raise them from SEK 66 billion last year to SEK 95 billion in 2025.
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