The spoken word applies.
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, soldiers and sailors.
I will speak about Sweden's role in NATO – but first a few words about the current situation:
Europe and Sweden are living in a new and dangerous reality. We are facing the greatest defence, foreign, and security policy challenges since the Second World War. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine represents a dramatic and long-term deterioration in the security situation, both in Europe and globally.
For Sweden, the war led to a political paradigm shift. Our overall security policy will henceforth be characterised by greater realism. NATO membership and a significant strengthening of the Swedish defence are an immediate consequence of this insight. The new policy will be marked by a clear defence of Swedish national interests.
The war in Ukraine is being fought on two fronts: a Ukrainian defensive war against Russia's aggression and occupation, and a Russian war of attrition against Ukraine's will to defend, and not least against the unity in the West. Everything suggests that we should prepare for a long war. Russia's strategic goals remain unchanged, as does Ukraine's rightful struggle for its freedom. But it is Ukraine that has justice on its side.
Russia's war against Ukraine has led the EU and NATO to demonstrate a unity, determination, and solidarity that was not a given. The day before the invasion – on 23 February – I was at Talludden in Helsinki and spoke with Finland's President Sauli Niinistö. There was no war yet, but we both saw the obvious risks. And that the war could lead to division – in Europe and between Europe and the USA. War ensued. But it is a tremendous show of strength that the Western democracies have so far held together. It is not least a confirmation of the EU's foreign policy role. When the EU was truly tested, the EU passed the test.
Putin is said to live in the belief that time is on Russia's side. Our main contribution to peace is to show in action that time is, on the contrary, on Ukraine's side. Sweden and our allies must continue the extensive economic and military support to Ukraine, continue to safeguard European and transatlantic cohesion, and continue to increase pressure on Russia.
I spoke again the day before yesterday with President Zelenskyy. As the Swedish Prime Minister, but this time also as the EU's presiding country. I emphasised that we have much on our EU agenda – but also that no other task is more important to us than maintaining unity, increasing support for Ukraine, and increasing pressure on Russia. I also confirmed that the latest Swedish military support package – which was larger than the previous eight combined – will be followed by more and powerful ones shortly.
Now to Sweden's role in NATO.
All of NATO's responsibilities are also Sweden's responsibilities. We will be a long-term, loyal, and committed member. Like Norway and Denmark in their time, Sweden joins NATO without formal reservations. But we see – as do the other Nordic countries – that it is not relevant to have nuclear weapons on our own territory in peacetime.
In addition, we bring six strengths into NATO, which will become important building blocks in our membership.
The first strength is geographical. With Swedish membership comes a 1,600-kilometre airspace stretching from the Arctic to the southern Baltic Sea. Sweden has the longest coastline in the Baltic Sea and important ports in the North Sea. Sweden is the link connecting the eastern NATO countries with the Atlantic. For the first time in 500 years, the Nordic region becomes one and the same defence geography, part of the same defence alliance, and gains strategic depth for joint forces.
Sweden's and Finland's membership in NATO strengthens the alliance and increases our collective security. Sweden's naval resources and strong position in the air mean that we can take significant responsibility in the entire Baltic Sea region.
The second strength is Swedish defence capability. Sweden is a high-tech country, and we shall have a high-tech defence. We have a strong air force based on a proven and well-armed Gripen system. We have a very advanced submarine fleet, sophisticated surveillance capabilities both above and on the sea. We have an internationally recognised and technically strong intelligence service – and we have internationally experienced special forces. The Army is once again based on brigades equipped and trained to fight with combined arms.
Sweden is now rapidly strengthening its defence. Our defence expenditures will reach NATO's standard of 2 percent of GDP by 2026 at the latest. Quality and availability are increasing. Air defence is being strengthened with the Patriot system. The Swedish Armed Forces have competent permanent staff – both military and civilian. We have conscripts of the highest class, a qualified Home Guard, and broad public engagement in the voluntary defence organisations.
Civil defence will grow in pace with the military – both to protect the civilian population and to support the military defence. In my government, I have therefore, for the first time, appointed a special minister with precisely that responsibility. And I have long personally been a strong advocate of expanded total defence duty.
The third strength is our economy. The combined Nordic economy is comparable in size to Russia's – but much more sophisticated. Our business sector is technologically advanced, with many global companies. We are an integrated part of world trade. The Nordic region ranks at the top in terms of economic freedom, capital formation, innovation, and competitiveness. The industrial base is strong. Sweden has large companies, the largest port, and the largest financial market in northern Europe. This is a strength directly linked to our defence capability.
The fourth strength is the Swedish defence industry. Continuing to develop defence technology is necessary to build a stronger collective defence of the free world. The Swedish defence industry is an indispensable part of our engagement in NATO. New threats must be met with the development and application of new technology. Through NATO membership, products developed in the business sector and especially in the Swedish defence industry will strengthen the entire defence alliance. Those of you working at Saab and other Swedish defence companies should be proud of what you do. It must be said clearly.
Just as Sweden is dependent on the outside world, our expertise, capacity, and not least exports are important building blocks in the value chains that enable our partners and future allies to develop military capability. We shall contribute to ensuring that both the EU and NATO can jointly continue to build a cutting-edge defence industry to meet today's and tomorrow's threats.
The fifth strength is our values. Sweden and the Nordic region are characterised by strong libertarian and individualistic values. Freedom, justice, and democracy are part of our DNA. We are prepared to defend these values together with NATO allies.
Another strong value is internationalism and commitment to peace, justice, and global security. We have long demonstrated this through international military operations, but also with our commitment to universal freedoms and rights, aid, and free trade. Swedish values are to a large extent NATO's values.
The long tradition of defence willingness is also a strong value. We have had our own navy for half a millennium. The Swedish Air Force was among the strongest in the world in the decades after the Second World War. Not long ago, we could mobilise 800,000 men. Now Sweden is once again taking defence very seriously.
The sixth strength is our national unity. Sweden's NATO membership has very broad support in the Riksdag. The previous government built alliances with like-minded countries, especially with Finland, the USA, the United Kingdom, and France. After Russia's attack on Ukraine, the Social Democrats also took a stand for NATO last spring, under the leadership of my predecessor Magdalena Andersson. I value that unity. It is significant to be able to change one's mind and, in a new situation, put the country first.
The new government is now completing this joint process. We do so with strong support in public opinion and with very strong support in the NATO circle. 28 out of 30 countries have already made us members. And the most common question I get from other prime ministers at EU summits is this: what can we do to help?
Sweden's more detailed role in NATO will be determined by the upcoming joint planning. As an ally, Sweden will contribute to the alliance's planning, exercises, operations, and deployments in solidarity, over time, and in a "360-degree perspective" – as it is called in NATO language.
But I would like to point out a few concrete measures that are a natural consequence of Swedish membership and which I am sure also have broad support:
- The first is that Sweden will join the 15-country initiative for a joint missile defence, which was launched at NATO's defence ministerial meeting in October. It is called the "European Sky Shield Initiative". The war in Ukraine shows how important modern air defence is to protect the civilian population and infrastructure. Sweden will contribute with new capabilities, with our air force, our air defence, and with our sensors like Global Eye. On land, at sea, and in the air, we have a very good situational awareness of our surrounding area.
- The second concerns Sweden's intention to contribute with Gripen aircraft to the incident preparedness for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, through NATO's Baltic Air Policing. We are also prepared to contribute to NATO's Air Policing in the Black Sea and in Iceland. These are joint commitments for all members.
- And the third is that Sweden – just like Norway and Denmark and a number of other NATO countries – is ready to contribute with ground combat units in NATO's defence of primarily the Baltic states. Under the leadership of the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the USA, NATO already reinforced the Baltic countries and Poland in 2017. After Russia's attack on Ukraine, the same was done in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. The commitment shows NATO's entire determination to withstand any aggression. Sweden will also be part of that determination.
Or to express it in the clearest language of international solidarity: An attack on one member is an attack on all. Or in another equally well-known language – one for all, all for one.
Finally:
To all of you who are now serving in the Swedish Armed Forces – civilians and military, conscripts and employees – thank you very much for everything you do!
I myself have a conscripted daughter at the Command Regiment in Enköping and one at the Logistics Regiment in Skövde. They, of course, like thousands of others, are just doing their duty. But what they – and all other soldiers and sailors – are really and ultimately doing is defending our country's freedom. That is significant. We see that effort.
Thank you.