Sweden is beefing up its defenses in the Arctic to counter a growing Russian threat, the country’s defense minister said on October 4, 2023. AFP/GETTY IMAGES
THE WATCH STAFF
Sweden is strengthening its Arctic defenses to counter its increasingly aggressive Russian neighbor.
As it readies to join NATO, Sweden has drastically increased defense spending and grown closer militarily to Nordic allies such as Denmark, Finland and Norway.
“Our natural response [to Russia’s military buildup in the Arctic] has been beefing up our military presence in the northern part of Sweden, reestablishing garrisons and regiment detachments, beefing up our Army Rangers,” said Pål Jonson, Sweden’s defense minister, during the Warsaw Security Forum on October 4, 2023, according to Breaking Defense, a military news website. “We’re also extending cooperation especially between Sweden, Norway and Finland up in the High North and all of us [are] going to also be part of integrated missile and air defense system [collaboration], and I think that’s also going to strengthen NATO.”
A new Swedish military base in Lapland, in the country’s far north, has already been proposed by Sweden’s top military commander. The other moves, Jonson said, were in line with countering a reemerging threat.
“We’re cognizant of the fact Russia is retaking a lot of positions that they used to have in the Arctic,” he said, according to Breaking Defense. “There is a degree of militarization…and we have to respond to that.”
Russia’s military has been weakened by its invasion of Ukraine, but most of its Arctic forces remain in place, Jonson said.
The Arctic retains a high strategic importance for Moscow as a region in which it wishes to continue to hold clout. The Center for Strategic and International Studies reports that no ships or submarines belonging to Russia’s Northern Fleet have been lost in the Ukraine war, although a battalion tactical group from Russia’s 200th Motorized Rifle Brigade is among Russian land forces that have been destroyed, according to Breaking Defense.
Sweden’s bid to join NATO has been slowed by Hungary and Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sent the Swedish bid to the Turkish parliament, and Hungarian President Viktor Orban has said his country is in “no rush” to welcome Sweden to NATO, according to The Associated Press.
Patience is also required for Ukraine, Jonson said at the conference.
“Let’s stay the course and this will go well for us. When we get stressed and start speculating, that’s the problem,” he said, according to Breaking Defense. “This war has been a disaster for Russia militarily and politically. The Ukrainians are putting up a very good fight. … [They] shouldn’t have to prove themselves on the battlefield every day in order to get our support.”
In September, Sweden reported a nearly 30% increase in military spending, amounting to $2.4 billion over the next year for new artillery systems, tactical transport aircraft, naval combat vessels, Gripen fighter jets and Blekinge-class submarines, according to Breaking Defense.