Today, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson (Moderate Party) and French Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu signed a declaration of intent in the defence field at a meeting between the two ministers, the Ministry of Defence writes in a press release.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the declaration of intent concerns the two countries jointly reviewing potential future areas of cooperation within air surveillance and air defence.
Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu wrote in a post on X/Twitter, among other things, that the agreement enables the acquisition of air defence systems, without going into further detail.
Yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron arrived with a large delegation at the invitation of His Majesty The King. The heads of state visited, among other places, the Military Academy Karlberg together with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (Moderate Party). Earlier in the day, Macron and Kristersson signed a renewed strategic innovation partnership. Sweden and France signed their first partnership for innovation and green solutions in 2017, which was last renewed in 2019.
In a published joint statement, the Prime Minister and the President describe, among other things, an earlier framework agreement and cooperation on anti-tank guided weapons, and state that "Sweden and France emphasise their shared readiness to strengthen their capability and develop their cooperation on air surveillance and air defence to meet future air threats."
In today's press release, the Ministry of Defence states that Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu signed a declaration of intent in connection with the French state visit to Stockholm. This is being done to further strengthen cooperation between Sweden and France.