{"id":63185,"date":"2022-12-06T19:59:16","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T19:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/12\/06\/sweden-getting-into-the-nato-groove-by-aiding-ukraine-boosting-budget\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:46:14","slug":"sweden-getting-into-the-nato-groove-by-aiding-ukraine-boosting-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2022\/12\/06\/sweden-getting-into-the-nato-groove-by-aiding-ukraine-boosting-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweden getting into the NATO groove by aiding Ukraine, boosting budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia \u2014 Days after Sweden announced its largest military aid package yet for Ukraine<\/a>, its lead defense officials are positioning the Nordic country\u2019s contributions as an example of what to expect from Stockholm as a NATO<\/a> member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramping up aid from portable anti-tank weapons to heavy-duty anti-aircraft systems was just the latest in a whiplash-inducing array of changes for Sweden after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February. After 200 years of nonalignment, Sweden is now a NATO aspirant, prompting a fast-tracked rewrite of its defense strategy and \u2013 from its new center-right government \u2013 a major defense budget boost<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ticking off his top priorities for Defense News on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum last month, Sweden\u2019s newly appointed defense minister, P\u00e5l Jonson, started with aid to Ukraine. Days earlier, the government announced a package worth $287 million that was larger than all of its previous aid combined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst priority: stepping up economic, military, political and humanitarian support for Ukraine, including the transfer of more advanced weapons systems,\u201d Jonson said Nov. 19. He added that the latest package included \u201cair defense and winter equipment \u2013 because that\u2019s what the Ukrainians need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swedish military\u2019s supreme commander, Gen. Micael Byd\u00e9n<\/a>, in a separate interview, pointed to the political unity to support the new aid package.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of the sovereign countries need to be able to defend ourselves, and I would argue there\u2019s a greater understanding to take more national risk and make sure the Ukrainians have what they need,\u201d Byd\u00e9n said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonson said the next priority is to become a NATO member \u201cas soon as possible,\u201d with Stockholm \u201ceager\u201d to contribute to NATO\u2019s collective defense through the alliance\u2019s enhanced forward presence arrangement along the eastern boundary, air policing or standing maritime forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweden, along with fellow unaligned Nordic nation Finland<\/a>, is currently awaiting unanimous consent from NATO members to join the alliance, a process that could reach its conclusion in 2023 despite reservations about their applications from Hungary and Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new government, meanwhile, has set a course under its civil-military \u201cTotal Defense\u201d plans to boost the defense budget by $800 million in 2023, backed by higher investments in cyber-defense, signals intelligence, defense preparedness and the expanded intake of military personnel. The aim is to increase defense spending by 40% by 2025 and keep rising, Jonson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sweden’s Defense Minister Pal Jonson arrives for a meeting of EU defense ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. EU defense ministers will exchange views on bridging the gap between defense capabilities and operational realities. (AP Photo\/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stockholm wants NATO allies to know it plans to carry its weight. Sweden\u2019s new government has accelerated the goal for defense spending to hit 2% of gross domestic product from 2026 to 2028 \u2013 as Germany and others have vowed to take similar steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust because we\u2019re joining NATO doesn\u2019t mean we can in any way reduce the pace of our own defense investments,\u201d Jonson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent days, top defense officials in Europe say arms shortages among Ukraine\u2019s Western allies are forcing difficult conversations<\/a> about how to balance support for Ukraine with concerns Russia may target them next, and just how much equipment the defense industry can quickly produce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonson said the push to support Ukraine and increased defense spending from Sweden and other Western nations has put \u201cquite a lot of pressure\u201d on the defense industrial base, and it must meet the moment. \u201cIt\u2019s important to ramp up industrial production in order to keep up with these expectations,\u201d Jonson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Front of mind for Johnson is a government finding in May that Sweden must think not only in terms of industrial capacity but reliable supplies. The idea is to fix capacity that is lagging from Europe\u2019s underinvestment in defense after the Cold War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all need to step up and get better burden-sharing across the Atlantic,\u201d Jonson said. \u201cExports were very important for [Sweden\u2019s] industrial base outside Europe, but now the demand is going to pick up inside Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonson said that Sweden\u2019s robust defense industry, which already has \u201cstrong and viable transatlantic links\u201d is yet another way it will improve NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor being a quite small country, we have quite a vibrant defense industrial base,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no other country of 10 million that can produce submarines, surface combatants, advanced artillery systems, combat vehicles and fighter aircraft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t