Stockholm has announced plans to increase its defense budget from 2.4 percent of Sweden’s gross domestic product to 3.5 percent. The plan aims to boost the country’s defense spending to $30 billion by 2030. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson expects that the upcoming NATO summit in the Netherlands in June will raise the alliance’s current target from 2 percent to 3.5 percent, Breaking Defense reported.
A parallel move in the European Union was announced in February, with EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis saying the European Commission is poised to act on proposals to relax budget rules to enable EU member states to boost defense spending.
US Action in Europe
Increasing defense spending targets would represent a significant strengthening of the alliance that “cannot assume or take for granted that the United States will continue to act in Europe as it has over the past 80 years,” Kristersson said in a press briefing. “It’s the European NATO that’s being tested right now,” he added.
Sweden’s ruling Moderates will propose the planned defense spending increase to Parliament on April 15 for the legislative body to vote on by June 20, a government spokesperson told Breaking Defense. The spokesperson added that much of the planned Swedish funding increase would revolve around securing the Baltic Sea.
Loan Plans for Military Spending
Stockholm plans to secure loans if Parliament passes the higher target on defense spending, according to the report. Sweden already has a previous plan to increase the budget to 2.6 percent of GDP by 2028, even as its current allocation is already above the 2 percent NATO target.
In October, the Swedish government proposed a total defense bill that allocates $16.2 billion for military spending and $3.4 billion for civil defense from 2025 to 2030.