It is a new symbol of the growing tensions between the Scandinavian countries and Russia. Faced with the potential military threat represented by the country of Vladimir Putin, Sweden has recorded the 40% increase in its military budget by 2025, reports The Economist, in an article marked by International mail. A financial investment which will notably take the form of a real call to the flag since the country, which is not a member of NATO, wishes in particular to double its military personnel.
Why such a decision ? When justifying this massive investment, the Swedish Minister of Defense, Peter Hultqvist, referred to the “Russian aggressions in Georgia and Ukraine”. For him, an “armed attack on Sweden cannot be completely ruled out”. A reason which justifies, in his eyes, that military spending increases by 27 billion crowns (2.6 billion euros) over the period from 2021 to 2025. This is “the largest increase in military spending since the 1950s ”. This effort will result in an increase in the strength of the armed forces to reach 90,000 people and the doubling of the number of conscripts. Eight thousand people are now affected each year. Finally, investments will also be made within the various armed forces.
The shadow of Russia
The Economist recalls why the reason for these investments is to be found in the east, in Russia. At the end of September, a cooperation agreement was signed between Finland, Norway and Sweden. An agreement which, as the Barents Observer reports, was ratified in a symbolic place, the base of Porsangmoen. Located in Norway, it is just 200 kilometers from the Russian border. However, the various Scandinavian countries have all noted a “significant increase in military activities on the Russian side of the borders”.
At the end of August, Sweden, as reported by Euronews at the time, had already chosen to make a show of force. Ballistic exercises of an unprecedented scale then took place on the island of Gotland, located in the Baltic Sea in the east of the country. Peter Hultqvist then assumed he wanted to send a signal to Russia. “Over time we have seen increased military activity, more complex exercises, but also what we call provocative behavior on the part of Russia, which flies very close to Swedish planes and also others. planes, but which also flies very close to NATO ships. Sweden, which abolished military service in 2010, decided to reinstate it in 2017.
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