HELSINGFORS — Sweden’s newly elected center-right government has prioritized spending on defense-enhancing measures in its draft budget proposal for 2023, with the aim of bringing the country closer to NATO’s target quota.

Sweden, together with other non-aligned countries Nordic nation Finlandare currently awaiting unanimous consent from NATO members to join the alliance, a process that could reach its conclusion in 2023 despite reservations about their applications expressed by Hungary and Turkey.

The focus on “Total Defence” in the Swedish government’s defense budget plan aims to raise military spending to 2% of gross domestic product by 2026. The defense budget is on track to grow by $800 million in 2023, backed by higher capital investments to strengthen cyber defense, signals intelligence, defense preparedness and increased intake of military personnel.

– The government’s plan is for Sweden’s defense capability to be gradually expanded year after year, says Pål Jonson (Moderates), Sweden’s newly appointed Minister of Defence.

The 2023 budget will give the Swedish Defense Forces’ (SDF) Cyber ​​Defense Unit (CDU) a significant boost in investment to strengthen its ability to defend against hybrid warfare threats. These include cyber attacks and targeting critical infrastructure and IT networks, both public and private, which are deemed to be essential for Sweden’s economy to function.

It is significant that Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s conservative-oriented coalition government is proposing the establishment of a new ministry that would have joint responsibility for Total Defense’s two main components, military and civil defense.

The total defense format for Sweden’s national security will be modified to comply with the country’s future membership in NATO.

The template for the proposed joint department means that it will have close contact with a new National Security Council (NSC) to be established in 2023. The NSC is intended to function as a dedicated agency to analyse, review and coordinate Sweden’s security policy measures.

Sweden’s budget proposal for 2023 includes a provision to increase spending on defense and national security preparedness by 1.23 billion dollars (13 billion kroner) in 2022-2023. The SDF’s budget for military equipment and facilities will increase from $7.1 billion to $8.3 billion, according to the bill.

The scale and level of spending ambition in the 2023 defense budget is currently the subject of ongoing discussions between Johnson’s Ministry of Defense and the Parliamentary Defense Committee (PDC).

A key component of the talks will be how to effectively strengthen the SDF’s procurement capacity to finance and buy new weapons systems, a spin-off issue given the rising costs associated with arms procurement against the backdrop of a falling krona, Sweden’s national currency.

The government is concerned that a weakening of the krona could impair Sweden’s defense build-up and the ability to reach the envisaged NATO spending quota by 2026.

Defense committee members support a government policy initiative to strengthen defense measures by increasing the SDF’s order authority for new weapons systems by more than $2.9 billion after 2030.

Based on its current trajectory, Sweden proposes to scale up its spending on defense and security preparedness to $12 billion in 2028. Sweden allocated $7.3 billion to that budget line in 2022, equivalent to about 1.45 percent of GDP, the highest level since 2005.