The Prime Minister has informed the leaders of the Riksdag parties about the difficult security situation during a meeting. The military intelligence service (Must) also contributed to the meeting with an analysis of how the war in Ukraine is going and different scenarios ahead.
The details are not officially known, but according to Kristersson, Europe must act quickly.
Russia's goals and intentions remain unchanged, he says.
One of the conclusions is that Sweden must continue to increase its defense capabilities.
The USA sounds quite different today than what we're used to, says Kristersson.
In the long run, Europe cannot rely on the USA and American taxpayers to defend Europe. We must be able to defend ourselves to a higher degree.
New NATO Goals
Sweden has doubled its defense spending in just a few years and is now above NATO's current requirement of 2 percent of GDP.
However, at the NATO summit in The Hague in June, the requirement is expected to be significantly increased. Levels between 3 and 5 percent have been mentioned. Additionally, NATO will also give member states new national capability goals, i.e., what each country should be able to deliver within the framework of NATO's collective defense.
According to Kristersson, the government will return with its analysis of how quickly and how much Sweden should strengthen its defense by the summer.
We will make a new defense decision once again. I'm pretty sure it will be based on the decisions made at the NATO summit in The Hague, he says.
The current defense decision was made as recently as December. According to the Prime Minister, they are currently reviewing what can be accelerated within the framework of this.
He does not rule out more money for defense in the spring budget.
Kristersson says he values the broad agreement among party leaders.
This broad agreement is quite unique in the world when polarization and extremism characterize many countries' political debates, he says.
Everyone Wants to Arm
Before the meeting, it emerged that all party leaders want to arm the Swedish defense.
There's no time to waste, says S-leader Magdalena Andersson.
SD leader Jimmie Åkesson:
I perceive that there is compact support for arming up and that it will have to cost money. What we need to discuss is the financing.
The Left Party also wants to strengthen the Swedish defense, but emphasizes that the entire society must be armed.
Don't forget the important total defense. We have 200 faults per day on the Swedish railway, it must function in a war situation. We have fewer intensive care beds today than before the pandemic, says V-leader Nooshi Dadgostar.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called for a party leader meeting after participating in the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
In Brussels, the EU leaders backed the EU Commission's plan to release 800 billion euros to strengthen Europe's defense.
However, there were no new announcements about more support to Ukraine, after the USA stopped its deliveries.
Kristersson also participated in the top meeting in London on Sunday, where they discussed, among other things, security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement and a French proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
