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IN PICTURES: ‘New era’ as Nato flag hoisted outside Swedish parliament

'Sweden wants peace,' said King Carl XVI Gustaf as he spoke at a flag-hoisting ceremony outside the Swedish parliament to mark his country's Nato membership.

Published: 18 March 2024 11:17 CET
IN PICTURES: 'New era' as Nato flag hoisted outside Swedish parliament
King Carl XVI Gustaf and a group of protesters in the background. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

“A new piece of Swedish history is being written,” said the King in his speech on Monday.

“We have left behind the military freedom of alliance founded under Karl XIV Johan,” he added. “A new era of security policy has begun.”

Sweden applied to join Nato following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, King Carl XVI Gustaf, parliamentary speaker Andreas Norlén, Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Micael Bydén, among others. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

The King said that Sweden’s membership would contribute to regional stability, but wasn’t targeted at anyone.

“Sweden wants peace. Thus wrote my grandfather, Gustav VI Adolf, and Prime Minister Tage Erlander to Swedish citizens in the 1960s. That’s still the case today. Sweden threatens no one. Sweden wants peace,” he said.

The Nato flag flying next to the Swedish flag and the EU flag outside parliament. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, speaker of parliament Andreas Norlén and military supreme commander Micael Bydén also attended the ceremony on Monday, alongside members of parliament, government ministers and several party leaders.

US ambassador Erik D Ramanathan and Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, director-general of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT

Across the water, outside the Royal Palace, a group of around 20 people held up banners and loudly chanted “no to Nato”.

Demonstrators holding signs reading Free Palestine; Sweden doesn’t need Nato for peace – Nato needs Sweden for war; No to Nato; No to war crimes club Nato. Photo: Samuel Steén/TT

The war in Ukraine and Sweden’s Nato application has not only boosted support for Nato, but also for peace movements.

The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (Svenska freds) has more than doubled its membership in two years, from just over 6,000 in February 2022 to 15,000 at the start of March 2024, reported regional public radio broadcaster P4 Jönköping earlier on Monday.

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The Swedish branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (Internationella kvinnoförbundet för fred och frihet) has grown by 35 percent since January 2022, and the Christian Peace Movement (Kristna fredsrörelsen) grew by 12 percent in 2023.

According to Kerstin Bergeå, chair of Svenska freds, which is against Nato membership, a total of 200 new members signed up on the same day that Hungary ratified Sweden’s application.

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MILITARY

Swedish parliament group urges 52 billion kronor hike in defence spending

A Swedish parliamentary commission on Friday recommended moves to strengthen the country's armed forces that would add 52.8 billion kronor to the national defence budget by 2030.

Published: 26 April 2024 14:37 CEST
Swedish parliament group urges 52 billion kronor hike in defence spending

That would bring spending to 2.6 percent of GDP, thereby exceeding the Nato target of two percent.

The Swedish Defence Commission said the Scandinavian country needed to respond to new conditions, citing heightened tensions in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Sweden’s recent integration into the Nato military alliance.

The commission recommended additional army brigades and navy personnel, a rise in the number of conscripts trained up every year and the creation of Sweden’s first ever rocket artillery unit.

“Together, the (recommended) additions for military defence amount to 52.8 billion kronor in 2030,” the commission said in a report presented to the government on Friday.

The commission is composed of MPs from all parties in parliament, as well as experts and representatives of various authorities, including the armed forces.

Its report will form the basis for a decision on defence spending in parliament this autumn, which the commission said would be “historic”.

“The deteriorating security situation, combined with Sweden’s obligations as an Ally, requires an increased ambition for the military defence,” the government said on its website on Friday.

Sweden’s defence budget for 2024 is around 119 billion kronor.

With the proposed increase, it would reach 185 billion kronor, defence commission chair Hans Wallmark told a press conference.

More troops

Wallmark said the commission wanted to bring forward the deployment of two new army brigades so the force had a total of four by 2030.

MPs wanted there to be three mechanised brigades and one infantry brigade, he told reporters.

The commission also proposed the creation of Sweden’s first rocket artillery unit, saying it believed the creation of a full battalion was “pressing” but needed to be evaluated further.

It recommended a 50-percent expansion in the number of conscripts trained every year.

“We want to train 12,000 conscripts a year by 2032”, said Wallmark, up from the 8,000 a year currently trained.

More personnel should also be provided for the navy, he said.

Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin made waves in January when he told a defence conference “there could be war in Sweden”.

Shortly after, armed forces commander Micael Bydén also said Swedes needed to “mentally prepare for war”.

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Sweden drastically slashed its defence spending after the end of the Cold War but reversed course following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

In March 2022, after Russia’s fully fledged invasion of Ukraine, Stockholm announced it would increase spending again, aiming to dedicate two percent of GDP to defence “as soon as possible”.

Late last year, the government said military spending would exceed the two-percent goal in 2024.

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