Sweden will raise defence spending by €2.4 billion (SEK 26.6 billion), Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Monday, calling it the country’s largest increase since the Cold War.
The bill would increase Sweden’s defence spending by 18% from €13 billion this year.
“It’s unprecedented unless you go back to the very worst days of the Cold War,” Kristersson told the press.
The proposal includes an additional €430.9 million for procuring materiel and facilities, including air defence systems, rocket artillery, ammunition, combat vehicles, new combat ships and tactical transport aircraft.
The increase builds on a unanimous agreement reached by parliamentary parties in June to borrow €27.5 billion (300 billion SEK) to enhance conscript training, air defences, and long-range combat capabilities.
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It was unveiled against the backdrop of recent Russian drone incursions on NATO’s eastern flank, the deployment of additional NATO troops to the region, and combat operations from Kaliningrad as part of Russia’s multi-day Zapad (West) military exercise.
“We need to be ready, we need to have good ability to face this”, Energy Minister Ebba Busch said, referring to drone activity over Poland and Romania.
Last week, neighbouring Denmark announced the purchase of European-made ground-based air and missile systems worth a record €7.7 billion.
With these new investments, Sweden is aiming to move closer to NATO’s revised spending target of 3.5% of GDP by 2035. Stockholm projects that defence expenditure will reach 2.8% of GDP in 2026 and 3.1% in 2028, compared to the Alliance’s estimated 2.14% of GDP for 2024.
The coalition government is due to submit its budget bill on 22 September.
(cp, de)
