Total defence

On 24–25 June, the NATO Summit took place in The Hague. Sweden was represented by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard and Minister for Defence Pål Jonson. The focus of the Summit was the serious security situation and the need for increased investment in deterrence and defence.

On 12 June 2025, Sweden and Denmark signed a letter of intent on enhanced cooperation on civil preparedness and resilience.

Today, the Government, together with the Social Democratic Party, the Sweden Democrats, the Left Party, the Centre Party and the Green Party, presents an agreement to enable a historic expansion of Sweden’s defence to meet NATO’s new defence spending targets – expected to be 3.5 per cent of GDP – and that this expansion will be achieved rapidly through temporary financing via loans. This is a historic show of strength. If NATO were to agree on an additional target of 1.5 per cent of GDP for broader defence and security-related investments, the parties are in agreement that Sweden should also meet that target.

The Government has adopted a new strategy for Sweden’s defence industry with the aim of creating an innovative and competitive defence sector with a high production capacity.

On May 16, Sweden signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the protection of critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The MoU was concluded with the Baltic Sea countries within the EU, along with Norway, Iceland and the EU.

On 27 February 2025, the Government instructed the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency to enter into a cooperation agreement with Ukraine on critical infrastructure. This cooperation lays the groundwork for exchanges of experience between Sweden and Ukraine to better protect critical infrastructure.

On 19 February 2025, Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin received Poland’s Minister of the Interior and Administration Tomasz Siemoniak for bilateral talks. The two ministers signed a Letter of Intent to work further on the strategic partnership agreement between Sweden and Poland.  

On 19 February 2025, a Letter of Intent was signed between Sweden and Poland to work further on the strategic partnership agreement between Sweden and Poland.

On Tuesday 4 February, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin will receive Minister of Defense of the Republic of Moldova, Anatolie Nosatîi at Karlberg Castle.

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(New version) The Government has now presented a Total Defence Bill for the period 2025–2030. It includes substantial reinforcements of the total defence. Additional funding over SEK 170 billion will be allocated to the military defence and SEK 37.5 billion to the civil defence through 2030. These are historically large investments. Defence expenditures will therefore already reach 2.6 per cent of GDP in 2028.

Security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is becoming increasingly interlinked. The Government is now presenting a defence policy direction for cooperation between Sweden and countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

In its 2025 Budget Bill, the Government proposes additional funding worth SEK 13 billion to Sweden’s military defence, including upward adjustments and previous decisions. This corresponds to an increase of 10 per cent compared with 2024. The proposal means that appropriations for military defence amount to SEK 138 billion for 2025. For the coming defence decision period 2025–2030, the Government proposes over SEK 170 billion in additional funding. This is a significant increase in resources aimed at implementing measures in the upcoming bill Total Defence 2025–2030. With these increases, defence expenditure for 2025 is forecast to be equivalent to approximately 2.4 per cent of GDP according to NATO’s definition, and equivalent to approximately 2.6 per cent in 2028.

On Tuesday, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin signed a Letter of Intent on strengthened defence cooperation between Sweden and Moldova.

The security situation has deteriorated in both the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions in recent years. When Japan’s Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara met with Sweden’s Minister for Defence Pål Jonson in Stockholm on 25 July, discussions included deepened cooperation to tackle these challenges.

On 12 July, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson signed a Letter of Intent concerning security cooperation between Sweden and the U.S. state of New York. The cooperation will be mainly between the Swedish Armed Forces and the New York National Guard as part of the United States’ State Partnership Program (SPP).

The Nordic countries are entering into a cooperation to promote access to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden’s airspace for NATO’s air operations. On 9 July, a declaration of cooperation was signed by the countries’ defence ministers in connection with the NATO Summit in Washington DC.

The Government has adopted Sweden’s new national security strategy, which includes five guiding principles for management of Sweden’s security. It constitutes the framework for the Government’s work on national security until 2030.

Based on our national security interests, the international situation and Sweden’s strength and assets, this strategy establishes that safeguarding Sweden’s national security is the Government’s most important task and top priority. Sweden must rapidly strengthen its capability to prevent and deal with the various threats and risks that are described in this strategy.

On 4 July, the Government adopted Sweden’s first defence and security space strategy − The role of space in a new security environment.