The Swedish Defense Commission stressed the importance of Sweden joining NATO, given that the country is not safe from a Russian attack, according to a report released in Stockholm on Monday.
“An armed attack on Sweden cannot be ruled out,” the commission warned in the document entitled “Allvarstid” (“Serious times” in Swedish), quoted by the French agency AFP.
The committee works as a consultation forum between the government and the political parties represented in parliament (Riksdag) to “achieve a broad consensus on Sweden’s defense and security policy,” according to the executive.
According to the Defense Ministry, in the report, the commission considered “Russia to be the most serious long-term threat to the security of Europe and Sweden”.
Russia is engaged in “an ongoing conflict with the entire Western world,” Hans Wallmark, a member of the conservative Moderate party who chairs the committee, told a press conference in Stockholm.
The committee considered that Sweden’s security will be better ensured with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
“Sweden must have the ability to defend its territory against armed attack, within the framework of NATO’s collective defence,” the committee said in the report to Defense Secretary Pal Jonson.
Sweden and Finland applied to NATO and abandoned a historic policy of non-alignment following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April, but Sweden is still awaiting ratification of the candidacy by Turkey and Hungary, which has had “host country” status since June 2022.
Only full members enjoy the protection of Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which provides for collective defense in case of aggression against one of the alliance countries.
In addition to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Swedish Defense Commission stressed the danger from China, which is increasing its influence in Asia and the world.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s growing territorial claims show” that the use of force to achieve these claims “is once again a reality,” the committee members said.
Experts believed that the rules-based international order is under threat and that “Russia and China are the driving forces behind this evolution”.
Moscow and Beijing are pushing for “a multipolar world order and intend to weaken the influence of the West and the United States on a global level,” they defended, according to the defense ministry.
“Democracy, human rights and the rule of law are seen as existential threats by autocratic and revisionist states like Russia and China,” they continued.
Speaking at the press conference, Peter Hultqvist, former defense minister and member of the committee representing opposition social democrats, said guidelines had been drawn up to increase the military’s resources.
The guidelines include the need for a “larger army” by 2025-2030, which equates to at least 10,000 recruits per year, up from 5,200 now.
Source: DN
