{"id":43615,"date":"2015-10-04T15:25:52","date_gmt":"2015-10-04T15:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/10\/04\/sweden-considers-joining-uk-led-joint-expeditionary-force\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:29:17","slug":"sweden-considers-joining-uk-led-joint-expeditionary-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/budget\/2015\/10\/04\/sweden-considers-joining-uk-led-joint-expeditionary-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden Considers Joining UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>HELSINKI \u2014 Sweden is not ruling out the possibility that it may apply to join the elite British-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), although no formal process exists\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> is in place <\/span>to do so, Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hultqvist has been summoned\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">called in <\/span>by the Defense Committee of the Riksdag, Sweden&#8217;s parliament,\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Swedish Legislature\u2019s Parliamentary Defense Committee (PDC) <\/span>to confirm if the government is engaged in <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">a <\/span>formal talks <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">process <\/span>to join the JEF without the p<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">P<\/span>arliament\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amid <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Against thea backdrop of <\/span>Russia\u2019s military intervention in Ukraine and an increasingly aggressive and unpredictable Kremlin, Sweden has intensified efforts to shore\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">&#8211;<\/span>up its defense capabilities by actively seeking to join <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">participation in <\/span>bilateral and multilateral defense cooperation in Northern Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">PDC\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0Riksdag\u00a0committee&#8217;s\u00a0desire for an explanation also takes place <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">against a backdrop of\u00a0<\/span>amid deepening defense cooperation with NATO, coupled with the disclosure of a classified memorandum from November <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, dated November 2014, that <\/span>exploring<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">es<\/span> the value of Sweden joining the JEF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The memorandum \u2014\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">was <\/span>prepared by Col. Mats Danielsson, the Swedish MoD\u2019s defense attache to its <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">E<\/span>embassy in London<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">. The memorandum<\/span> \u2014\u00a0revealed the existence of <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">an ongoing dialogue and <\/span>unofficial contacts between Sweden and Britain that could take <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the militarily\u00a0<\/span>neutral Sweden into the NATO-allied JEF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anna Kinberg Batra, the leader of the pro-NATO Moderate Party, demanded that Prime Minister Stefan L\u00f6fven&#8217;s Social Democratic-Green government establish a more open and transparent stance with the legislature over\u00a0NATO and the JEF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We need to have a broad public debate on membership. Therefore, we need to know how the government plans to keep the <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">P<\/span>parliament informed about important changes in NATO cooperation,&#8221; Batra said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Opposition parties, including the Moderates, are urging L\u00f6fven to present a positional statement to the Riksdag <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">(national Parliament) <\/span>that will <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">both serve to <\/span>set out the government\u2019s end-game strategy in defense deepening with NATO <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">as well as\u00a0<\/span>and outline any future role for Swedish forces in the JEF, a force that will include Nordic-Baltic NATO members Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Secretive,\u00a0behind-the-scene discussions over joining the JEF, Batra said, reinforced Sweden&#8217;s image globally as a country that is &#8220;part of NATO but without the benefits that actual NATO membership would deliver.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hultqvist did not deny the existence of the MoD memorandum, <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">en<\/span>titled &#8220;Orientation of JEF and requests for Swedish participation.&#8221;\u00a0However, the defense minister stated that because Sweden has not received a<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ny<\/span> formal invitation to contribute to the JEF, <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">and therefore <\/span>the issue of its membership is speculative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Consequently there is no preparation taking place in Cabinet,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sweden&#8217;s interest in joining the modular-organized JEF stems from its potential role as a rapid response force should a crisis erupt in the High North or Baltic Sea regions, and one or more NATO member states come under attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The formation of the 10,000-strong JEF <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">force was set in motion\u00a0<\/span>began in December 2012. <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">The force<\/span>\u00a0It<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">s structure<\/span> is designed to operate alone or jointly in support of NATO, European Union or United Nations\u00a0missions in Europe, the Middle East or the Arabian Gulf<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> region<\/span>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The UK\u00a0element of the JEF will comprise lead commando, airborne, armored, aviation, air and maritime task groups drawn from the Royal Marines, British Army, the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania\u00a0and the Netherlands signed a letter of intent with the UK in <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">September <\/span>2014 to join a fully operational high-readiness JEF in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The JEF will operate independently and separate from NATO\u2019s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF)<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, to which the UK is contributing 1,000 troops to the VJTF\u2019s \u00a0overall force strength<\/span> of about 30,000 <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">personnel across <\/span>land, sea, air and special operations\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">forces branches <\/span>troops, to which the UK is contributing 1,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">strong <\/span>Nordic-Baltic representation in JEF enhances the unit\u2019s potential future role as a &#8220;first in&#8221; <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">spearhead <\/span>force, capable of <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">being <\/span>deploying<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ed<\/span> in two to five days, in potential <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">future <\/span>crisis-conflict situations in the region\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">High North or Baltic Sea areas<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The London Embassy memorandum<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, which explored future membership by Sweden in the LEF,<\/span> noted that the UK would likely welcome <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">participation by <\/span>Sweden, observing that its joining the JEF<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">? LEF<\/span> would be &#8220;perfectly possible if we wanted to.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As regards to the JEF<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">?\u00a0LEF<\/span>, the government must\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">needs to <\/span>provide <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">real <\/span>clarity to its defense-deepening ambitions with NATO and the United States, said Allan Widman (Liberals), the <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">PDC\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Riksdag Defense Committee&#8217;s chairman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;A lot is happening behind closed doors in terms of secret discussions that we do not know about,&#8221;\u00a0Widman said. &#8220;The government appears willing to allow Sweden to increase its dependence on NATO\u00a0but isn&#8217;t yet ready to talk about membership.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The clear implication, he said<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> Widman<\/span>, is that Sweden\u2019s unilateral dependence on NATO continues to strengthen while the country\u2019s national defense organization becomes more reliant on individual countries within NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Sweden is coming ever closer to NATO and to Article Five in the NATO statutes which deals with collective defense,&#8221; Widman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Widman said that <\/span>The government must <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">needs to <\/span>adopt the same degree of openness and transparency in its dealings with the JEF<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">?\u00a0LEF<\/span> and NATO that it has exhibited in its defense-deepening relationships with <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Nordic-Baltic <\/span>neighbors Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Widman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sweden and fellow nonaligned Nordic defense partner Finland are already in the NATO Response Force (NRF), the high-readiness unit comprising land, air, sea\u00a0and special operations forces. Sweden joined the NRF in 2013 and Finland in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">The <\/span>NATO\u00a0membership <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">issue <\/span>is certain to become an even greater focus, if not priority, for the L\u00f6fven government. Pro- NATO sentiment is rising in Sweden. A recent poll<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">, for the first time,<\/span> showed 41 percent of Swedes favor<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ing<\/span> NATO membership<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> while 39 percent remain opposed and 20 percent are undecided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Moreover, <\/span>Political relations between Stockholm and Moscow remain <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">decidedly <\/span>frosty. Russia<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Moscow<\/span> has repeatedly warned<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> Sweden<\/span> that it will deploy military counter-measures <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">against the Nordic country <\/span>if <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">it <\/span>Sweden joins NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Swedish<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">en\u2019s<\/span> Foreign Minister\u00a0Margot Wallstr\u00f6m\u00a0described relations <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">with Russia <\/span>as &#8220;chillier than ever&#8221; following a meeting with Russian<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u2019s<\/span> Ambassador <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">to Sweden, <\/span>Viktor Tatarintsev<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">,<\/span> on Sept.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ember<\/span> 17.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wallstr\u00f6m demanded <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">that <\/span>Tatarintsev explain the intent behind <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">veiled threats contained in\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>his June remarks <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">he made by the ambassador in June. Tatarintsev <\/span>suggesting<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ed that<\/span> Sweden could expect to face military counter-measures from Russia if it <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">were to <\/span>joined NATO. <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Repeated?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Wallstr\u00f6m\u00a0The Swedish foreign minister <\/span>also sought an explanation for &#8220;saber-rattling&#8221; <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">style <\/span>comments <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">made <\/span>by Russia\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who said\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Zakharova stated <\/span>during a press briefing <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">in Moscow <\/span>on Sept.<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ember<\/span>\u00a010<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">. She<\/span>\u00a0that Swedish membership in NATO would have &#8220;politico-military and foreign policy consequences&#8221; <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">for the Nordic country <\/span>that would require &#8220;retaliatory measures from Russia.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We wanted to establish that Sweden decides its own foreign and security policies and that we do not accept attempts to, through threats, influence us in this or other matters,&#8221; Wallstr\u00f6m said. &#8220;We delivered a clear message. Threats from Russia are unacceptable.&#8221; <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the minister added.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In related news, the Swedish government plans to highlight\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">enhance transparency in one area;: <\/span>territorial violations by foreign militaries. Under a new policy, the Armed Forces Command <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">(AFC) <\/span>is <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">will be <\/span>authorized to inform the public &#8220;within hours&#8221; of detected incursions by foreign naval vessels or aircraft in Swedish territorial waters or airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Email:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:godwyer@defensenews.com\">godwyer@defensenews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sweden is not ruling out the possibility that it may apply to join the elite British-led Joint Expeditionary Force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":83899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":44,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[44,8,33,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1929],"class_list":["post-43615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-budget","category-congress","category-home","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"L4KUZK3OHZGFZOMNJFQGEZ7ZBQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/budget\/2015\/10\/04\/sweden-considers-joining-uk-led-joint-expeditionary-force\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sweden Considers Joining UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sweden is not ruling out the possibility that it may apply to join the elite British-led Joint Expeditionary Force.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sweden Considers Joining UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sweden is not ruling out the possibility that it may apply to join the elite British-led Joint Expeditionary Force.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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