WEB EXCLUSIVE: Sweden moves up deadline for NATO threshold requirement of 2% GDP

Stew Magnuson photo

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — In light of its pending NATO membership, Sweden will begin spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense two years earlier than planned, the country’s defense minister said on November 19.

Sweden and Finland were invited to join the alliance in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All but two of the member nations have ratified their applications, with only Turkey and Hungry remaining.

“We of course hope to become full members of the alliance as soon as possible, pending the ratification process in Hungary and Turkey,” said Sweden’s Minister of Defense Dr. Pal Jonson National defense in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum.

NATO nations are required to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense funding, but many fall short. The issue gained widespread attention after former US President Donald Trump chastised some NATO members during his administration for failing to meet the target.

Sweden elected a new government in September and Jonson was sworn in as the new defense minister about a month later. The previous government had promised to raise its defense spending in line with the NATO threshold by 2028. Jonson said Sweden currently spends about 1.4 percent of its GDP on defense. But with the deteriorating security situation in Europe, the nation will move that goal up to 2026, he said.

“This is about solidarity with other allies. The Baltic countries are at about 2 percent. Poland is well above 2 percent, and Germany is on its way to 2 percent,” he said. All eight parties in the newly formed Swedish government support reaching threshold, although half of them want to keep the original target of 2028, he noted. “We can find bipartisan agreement on that,” he added.

When the membership is approved, Sweden will be ready to participate as a full member, he said. Sweden and Finland were already two of NATO’s closest non-member partners, although they were not parties to Article Five of the treaty, which requires members to come to the defense of any nation attacked.

“It was clear after February 24 when Russia did this full-scale invasion of Ukraine that there was a difference between partnership and membership. Ukraine was also a partner of NATO. Yeah, that didn’t help,” he noted.

Sweden has participated in exercises with other NATO nations for years and has a lot to offer the alliance, Jonson said. “When we become members of NATO, then we can be part of NATO’s joint defense planning. We can provide our assets and capabilities to integrate them into NATO’s defense planning,” he said.

Those assets include Patriot batteries, 100 jet fighters, electric submarines, low-signature naval surface combatants and “good intelligence capabilities, particularly on Russia,” he said.

In addition, Sweden punches well above its weight when it comes to the defense industry. “There is no other country in the world with 10 million people that can produce submarines, fighter jets, advanced combat vehicles and artillery pieces,” he said. “I think we can bring things to the table in terms of innovation and technology and partner with companies and startups in the United States.”

The new Swedish government is also adamantly supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russia with its ninth military aid package, totaling about $300 million, which is more than the previous eight aid packages combined, he said. The new funding will provide cold weather equipment, winter equipment and anti-aircraft technology, he added.

“We are 100 percent committed. This is a top priority for our government to step up to support Ukraine, for it to regain its territorial integrity and independence. That is our goal. And by supporting Ukraine, we are also investing in our own security. Putin will not be stopped unless someone stops him,” he said.

Regarding interoperability with NATO countries’ weapons systems, Jonson said that Sweden does not have far to go. Creating interoperable command, control and communications systems among the treaty allies has been a long-standing problem among the members, as they go their separate ways in acquiring systems.

“We are quite interoperable with NATO. We use Link 16 and Link 22 [radios]. Since we participate in many crisis management operations, we are not too concerned about the command structures as such. I think we are well on our way to integrating the Internet because we have participated in so many exercises,” he said.

Along with joining NATO, Sweden actively participates in exercises and keeps an eye on the Arctic region, where Russia has continued to aggressively advance its interests, he said. The war in Ukraine has not reduced Russia’s activity in the region, he noted.

And China has declared itself a “near-Arctic” nation and is increasing its activity there even though no other nation recognizes it as such, Jonson added. “They’ve increased their presence there as well, and we’re aware of that,” he said. Sweden published a new Arctic strategy two years ago, which is “more precise” when it comes to some of the threats, risks and vulnerabilities there, especially with increased Russian presence, he said.

“There will be more focus on the Arctic in the future,” Jonson said.

Substances: International, Global defense market