The Swedish troop contribution was the first to be announced since the Scandinavian country joined Nato in March.
Kristersson had in January announced that Sweden would likely send a battalion to take part in Nato’s permanent multinational mission in Latvia, dubbed the Enhanced Forward Presence, aimed at boosting defence capacity in the region.
“The government this morning gave Sweden’s armed forces the formal task of planning and preparing for the Swedish contribution of a reduced mechanised battalion to Nato’s forward land forces in Latvia,” Kristersson told reporters during a press conference with his Latvian counterpart Evika Silina.
He said the battalion, which will be in Latvia for six months, would be comprised of around 400 to 500 troops.
“Our aim is a force contribution, including CV 90s armoured vehicles and Leopard 2 main battle tanks.”
“We’re planning for the deployment early next year after a parliament decision,” he said.
Sending troops abroad requires the approval of parliament, and Kristersson said the government would put it to a vote.
Swedish troops were together with NATO troops in Afghanistan, so I don’t really know about “first”.
And when the first body bags come home the reality of joining the US Industrial war complex will hit home and you’ll realise what joining NATO really means.Spend your money on better things for Sweden, Health, Education, Infrastructure etc instead of fighting a proxy war for the US.