The party leaders in Tidösamarbetet and Minister of Defense Pål Jonson (The Moderate Party) present the initiative at a press conference. More precisely, it involves 26.6 billion kronor more to the defense in 2026.
Of these, 10 billion are new. The rest are already decided according to the step that the government has previously determined that the defense should grow with.
The initiative means that Sweden next year will reach 2.8 percent of GDP on defense, and is a first step to reach NATO's new goal of allocating 3.5 percent of GDP to military defense.
We are talking about very large investments in weapon systems and other defense equipment, both for the army, air force and navy, says the Prime Minister.
More to conscripts
The army will acquire more air defense, rocket artillery, ammunition and combat vehicles. The navy's new surface combat ships and combat boats. And the air force will invest in tactical transport aircraft and long-range combat capability, according to the government.
But the money will also be used to invest in the defense personnel. The daily allowance for both conscripts and officer cadets will be increased: from 146 to 200 kronor per day for conscripts, and from 175 to 240 kronor per day for officer cadets.
This strengthens the possibility of personnel supply for the war units we have, and it also strengthens our equipment supply and ensures that we get more equipment out to our units, says Pål Jonson about the initiative.
The SD leader says that the increase in daily allowance is the first since conscription was reintroduced in 2017.
It is a first step to improve the working conditions for those who make a significant and extremely important effort for Sweden, says Jimmie Åkesson.
Borrowed
The 10 new billion for 2026 will be borrowed and therefore do not burden the reform space in the autumn budget.
Ulf Kristersson emphasizes that the government has increased the defense budget by 100 billion kronor since 2022.
This is unprecedented, unless you go back to the worst days of the Cold War, he says.
KD leader Ebba Busch says that what happened in Poland and Romania last week, when Russian drones violated the countries' airspace, can happen in Sweden.
We need to be ready, we need to have the ability to meet this, she says.
