The news was presented during a visit to the Katarinaberget shelter in Stockholm. Present at the event were, among others, the opposition city councillor in Stockholm city, Dennis Wedin, Anders Kindberg, who is the property director and head of the property office in Stockholm city. Additionally, Freddy Jönsson Hanberg, chairman of the Total Defence Foundation, was also in attendance.
– It is extremely important and urgent, as Carl-Oskar Bohlin says, to understand how quickly the global situation is deteriorating. It is not possible to wait; measures of this kind must be initiated now. I look forward to more similar fast-track initiatives on supply preparedness, cybersecurity, and war medicine during the coming year, writes Freddy Jönsson Hanberg in a post on LinkedIn.
In a press release from the Ministry of Defence, it states that the government considers an investment in existing shelters to be urgent and proposes an additional 100 million kronor to MSB from 2024, for continued upgrading and modernisation of shelters. The investment in existing shelters is a way to swiftly increase the ability to protect the civilian population.
The government proposes in the budget bill an additional 40 million kronor to MSB to strengthen the municipal rescue services' ability to act during heightened readiness and war. Together with the funds already allocated for civil protection and rescue services in the Total Defence Bill 2020, this means a total investment of 120 million kronor in municipal rescue services during 2024, according to the Ministry of Defence.