Russian attack on Sweden cannot be ruled out: report

An armed attack on Sweden cannot be ruled out at a time when the country is waiting to join NATO, according to a report on security policy presented by the Swedish Defence Commission to Defence Minister Pål Jonson on Monday.

The report, known as Allvarstid (time of emergency in Swedish), a term said to originate from the preparedness years during the Second World War 1939-1945, presents the Swedish Defence Commission’s assessment of the global security environment, the implications for Sweden’s defence and security policy and outlined priorities for Sweden’s future NATO membership.

“These are serious times. There is a war going on in Europe, we have to deal with a nationalist, imperialist and armoured Russia. Developments in Asia and the Pacific affect us,” said Hans Wallmark, chair of the Defence Committee.

According to the report, as Sweden is expected to join NATO, the threat of Russian military action can not be excluded.

“An armed attack against Sweden cannot be ruled out. Nor can it be excluded that military force or further threats of such force may be used against Sweden.”, the report reads.

The report notes that while Russia’s ground forces are tied up in Ukraine, there are still several military threats.

“Furthermore, Russia has further lowered its threshold for the use of military force and exhibits a high political and military risk appetite. Russia’s ability to conduct air, sea, long-range or nuclear operations against Sweden remains intact,” the report reads.

“Russia will pose a serious threat for the foreseeable future. It could be decades”, former Social-Democrat defence finister Peter Hultqvist told Swedish media.

“Sweden must now build deterrence and a threshold”, he added.

Hultqvist emphasised that Russia engages in disinformation, cyber-attacks, espionage and war planning, including directly on Swedish territory.

The report also states that Sweden is prepared “to use armed force to defend our country, our population, our democracy, our freedom and our way of life”.

Wallmark was pleased that the Defence Committee, consisting of members from all parliamentary parties, is “essentially” in agreement, except the Left and Green parties, who believe the country should remain non-aligned.

“We consider that non-alignment would have been safer for us in the future,” declared Hanna Gunnarsson, a member of the Left party.

The other parties believe that Sweden is best defended within NATO, and both Wallmark and Hultqvist play down Sweden’s vulnerability during the long wait for membership, pointing out that Sweden has received security insurance from several countries.

However, Hultqvist is concerned if Sweden does not attend the summit in Vilnius in July.

“That is not good. We must be clear that the Nordic countries are working together and that the US and the UK continue to support the security assurances we already have.”, he said.

The Defence Committee has already called on the Swedish government to speed up the next decision on its defence strategy so that it can take effect one year earlier, from 1 January 2025. The changes needed in the rearmament process will be discussed in its final report next spring.

(Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com)