Sweden in NATO: Prepared from day one
Sweden and its neighbor Finland have submitted membership applications to NATO. Time and again, news accounts of Sweden’s application have characterized this decision as a sea-change in the country’s strategic posture. Once it becomes a member of the alliance, it will have put aside, it is said, its non-aligned status and nearly two centuries of neutrality when it comes to regional and global conflicts.
Critics of the country’s admittance will argue that this Johnny-come-lately effort will add yet another member unprepared to contribute to NATO’s core defense responsibilities. Yet the reality is, Sweden might well be the most prepared new member since the end of the Cold War.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Swedish governments, with a broad cross-party consensus, have been increasing military capabilities and reviving the country’s civil defense preparations. Although admittedly starting from a low level, the defense budget has gone up every year since 2015 and will have increased by 95 percent by 2025. In addition, the government has now pledged to meet the NATO goal of spending at least 2 percent of a member’s GDP on defense. How fast that happens will depend on how quickly it can expand its forces and acquire new equipment.
In the meantime, Sweden is expanding its active-duty force and its “home guard” from around 55,000 to 90,000. New capabilities include plans for new submarines, new fighter jets, new cyber capabilities, a new mechanized brigade, Patriot air defenses, new fast patrol boats, upgraded tanks, offensive mine-laying capabilities, new division-level command structure and reinforced defenses for the strategically important Baltic Sea island of Gotland. To top things off, conscription, which had ended after a century in 2010, was reintroduced in a modified form in 2018.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sweden-in-nato-prepared-from-day-one/ar-AAXwRuS
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