The Swedish Government announced this Monday that it will increase its Defense budget in 2024 until it reaches the minimum of 2% of the gross domestic product (GDP) allocated to this area as recommended by NATO.
The right-wing Executive led by the conservative Ulf Kristersson, of which his far-right ally the Swedish Democrats is a member, reached an agreement to add an amount of 700 million crowns (59 million euros) to the Defense budget, which will allow increased to around 119 billion crowns (ten billion euros) the annual expenditure in this area.
The total figures imply an increase of almost 23% compared to the Defense budget planned for 2023.
“We are facing historic tasks in Defense policy. We must intensify our work with greater reinforcement since the 1950s,” said at a press conference the Swedish Defense Minister, Pal Jonson, in a reference to the war in Ukraine and the security situation. in Europe.
Under the agreement, an additional 1.2 billion Swedish crowns (€105 million) will be allocated in 2025 and an additional 7.4 billion (€621 million) in 2026.
The Russian military intervention in Ukraine in February 2022 meant that Sweden and Finland ended centuries of military non-alignment and requested entry into NATO, approved at the June 2022 summit in Madrid, and after Turkey withdrew its veto in exchange for several conditions, including the extradition of Kurdish activists exiled in the two Nordic countries.
Finland’s decision was ratified last spring by Hungary and Turkey, but the two countries have not yet confirmed Sweden’s integration into the Western military organisation, a decision that could take place next autumn after a new commitment reached by the allied leaders of Vilnius in July. of this year.
Source: TSF
