Sweden and Germany Deepen Defence Cooperation

Sweden and Germany have signed a new memorandum of understanding for deepened defence cooperation. The agreement was signed by Defence Ministers Pål Jonson and Boris Pistorius at the Berlin Security Conference on 18 November, where Sweden is this year's partner country.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Defence, the agreement was signed on 18 November by Defence Minister Pål Jonson and Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. The aim is to broaden and deepen the countries' cooperation in security and defence. The new framework includes strategic dialogue on capability development, defence materiel cooperation, as well as joint training and interoperability.

Sweden already has a bilateral agreement with Germany from 2009 on cooperation in defence materiel and industry, which the Ministry of Defence highlights as a foundation for the now deepened cooperation. Another agreement between the countries was signed in March 2024, which NDS has previously reported on.

In a press release from the German Ministry of Defence, Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, Boris Pistorius describes the agreement as a concrete step to strengthen cooperation in areas such as training, technology procurement, and joint projects for deterrence capability.

– We stand shoulder to shoulder in troubled times, says Boris Pistorius in the statement.

Pål Jonson describes in the same source the agreement as a milestone and emphasises that both Sweden and Germany have a shared responsibility for security in the Baltic Sea region, within NATO and in Europe. He also stresses that Russia's actions require Europe to increase its own defence capability.

The Berlin Security Conference gathered a large number of European defence and foreign ministers, military leaders, and NATO representatives. According to the Government Offices, several Swedish ministers participated, including Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Minister for Civil Defence Carl-Oskar Bohlin.

Sweden's Supreme Commander, General Michael Claesson, also attended the conference. In a post on LinkedIn, he writes that in addition to participating in panel discussions on security in the Arctic and the Baltic Sea, he also presented the Swedish King's ribbon rosette to the commander of the guard battalion, Wachbataillon, in Berlin, in the presence of both defence ministers.