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Sweden’s top Nato negotiator to step down after Turkey deal

The official who led Sweden's Nato negotiations under both the current government and the former Social Democrat-led one is stepping down next month to join the private sector.

Published: 7 August 2023 15:23 CEST

Sweden's top Nato negotiator to step down after Turkey deal

Sweden's chief Nato negotiator Oscar Stenström. File photo: Wiktor Nummelin/TT

Oscar Stenström was appointed to lead Sweden’s preparations to join Nato in the spring of 2022 by the then prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, with her successor, Ulf Kristersson deciding to keep him in the job when he took over as prime minister last autumn.

Stenström is now going to take a role with Wallenberg Foundations AB, which overseas the foundations started by various members of the Wallenbergs, Sweden’s leading industrialist family.

“My duties as Nato negotiator are now complete as a result of the deal in Vilnius,” Stenström said in a written statement. “Turkey has promised ratification. I look forward to my new duties in the Wallenberg network.”

Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, said he wanted to thank Stenström for his “extraordinary efforts” and for “the fact that he has completed the task which he began”.

“This continuity has been important. I am convinced that Oscar is going to be of great value even in the private sector.”

Paul Levin, head of Stockholm University’s Institute for Turkish Studies said it was still not certain that the country’s parliament will back Sweden’s Nato membership when it meets again in October, but said that Sweden still considered Stenström’s mission as completed.

“What you can say is that the negotiations, themselves, are over and that now it’s about implementing the agreements that have been reached, first in Madrid and then later in Vilnius, and that it’s no longer up to Oscar Stenström to lead a demonstration. I suspect that’s how they see it.”

Stenström began his carrier as a Social Democrat politician and official in his early 20s, becoming a Social Democrat member of his local county council in Skövde in 1994 and serving as International Secretary for SSU, the party’s youth wing, between 1998 and 2000.

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EXPLAINED: What you need to know about Sweden's new military spending report

What is the Swedish Defence Commision?

The Swedish Defence Commission is a cross-party forum which seeks to ensure broad political agreement around Sweden’s defence requirements. It brings together representatives of all eight parties in the Swedish parliament, with two each from the Moderates, Sweden Democrats and Social Democrats and one each for the other parties.

There are also advisers and experts from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Swedish Armed Forces, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. Members of the committee are supported by a secretariat comprising one principal secretary and five secretaries.

What is the report they have delivered?

The committee on Friday delivered its final, report, “Strengthened defence capability, Sweden as an Ally“, meeting the deadline given by the country’s defence minister Pål Jonson when he ordered the committee to develop proposals for a new defence bill in December 2022, with a total of four reports, the first three of which were delivered in April 2023, June 2023, December 2023.

What have they recommended?

The committee have recommended that Sweden’s budget is increased from 119 billion kronor a year in 2024 to 185 billion kronor in 2030, which would bring total spending to 2.6 percent of Sweden’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The committee said it agreed with the recommendations given by Micael Byden, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces in November 2023, which were that Sweden should increase or improve:

air defence and in particular its cooperation within NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD)
its ability to combat air, land and sea drones
its integration with NATO’s command system
its logistics, so that it can provide Host Nation Support and serve as a base for other units from other Nato countries.
its capacity to operate with military units outside Sweden’s borders

But the committee also made additional recommendations beyong those given by the armed forces, calling for:

two new army brigades, so that Sweden would have three mechanised brigades and one infantry brigade by 2030
a new Norrland Infantry Regiment,
an increase in the number of conscripts trained a year from the current level of 8,000 to 10,000 in 2030 and 12,000 in 2032, and possibly to 14,000 in 2035
a boost in Sweden’s air defence capability, particularly to counter drone attacks
stocking up on additional ammunition, including air-to-air and cruise missiles, and spare parts
20 new companies and platoons dedicated to defending Sweden’s territories
increased refresher courses for conscripts, extra funding of voluntary defence organisations, and expansion of the officer education programme

How will the cost of funding this military expansion be met?

While they were agreed on what needed to be done, party representatives on the committee did not agree on how much needed to be spent or how ti should be financed.

The Centre Party representative said that spending should be higher, comprising 3 percent of GDP.

The representatives from the Social Democrats, Left Party, and Green Party, added a statement to the report when they called for a section on how the extra spending should be financed.

Peter Hultqvist, who served as defence minister under the former Social Democrat government, called for a new beredskapsskatt, or “Readiness Tax” to fund the increase, saying it was disappointing that the committee had not been able to agree on financing.

“This demand is so big that it risks pushing other pressing requirements out of government spending plans,” he said. “There is a risk that healthcare, education and elderly care will be hit.”

But Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, rejected the idea of a new tax.

“It’s no secret that the parties on the left always see reasons to raise taxes, and that’s the case this time as well, I assume. But that is not our way forward,” he said. “We must be able to prioritise Swedish defense, and I understand that there is now complete agreement that it is an important political task.”

Anna Starbrink, a defence spokesperson for the Liberals, the smallest party in the government, said that the Swedish Defence Commission had not in the past been tasked with developing funding proposals.

“This is a new idea from the opposition and from the Social Democrats’ side is about nothing more than forcing through a new tax hike through the defence commission, and that’s something the rest of us don’t want to go along with,” she said.

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