STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Rising prices and a weak currency mean Sweden will reach the NATO target for defence expenditure of 2% of GDP by 2026, two years earlier than previously planned, Sweden’s supreme commander said on Tuesday.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in the summer as a direct consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two Nordic countries membership has been approved by 28 of NATO’s 30 members.
“We are in a very serious security situation,” Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Micael Byden told a news conference after delivering spending recommendations to the government.
He said Sweden would increase it’s military capacity across land, sea and air, including more unmanned systems and increased presence on the strategic island of Gotland. Sweden will double its number of conscripts to 50,000 in 2035 from 24,000 in 2025.
Increased prices for military equipment, rising interest rates and a weak Swedish currency, making purchases from abroad even more costly, meant Sweden’s expenditure on defence was estimated to reach 2% of GDP sooner than previously estimated, the supreme commander said.
Byden also said he recommended the government to not set any red lines initially when joining NATO, such as not allowing NATO bases or nuclear weapons on Swedish territory.
“To set reservations at an early stage, before we have even joined, is to create friction and blockages and we want to avoid that,” he said.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Alex Richardson)
