Navy Chief Ewa Skoog Haslum met the minister upon his arrival in Stockholm and later hosted his visit to Karlskrona. Once in Karlskrona, he visited the command and control ship HMS Carlskrona, the Visby-class corvette HMS Nyköping, and finally Saab's shipyard. During the visit to Saab, the U.S. Ambassador Erik D. Ramanathan also accompanied him. Present were the company's CEO Micael Johansson, Mats Wicksell, head of Saab's business area Kockums, and Fredrik Lindén, who recently assumed the role of head of FMV's Naval Materiel division after three years as head of the First Submarine Flotilla.
- Saab is honoured to have received Secretary Del Toro, and the visit is a testament to our world-class naval capabilities. We had fruitful discussions that further contribute to strengthening the ties between Sweden and the United States, says Mattias Rådström, Saab's press officer, in a comment to Defence Sector News.
Del Toro writes about the Karlskrona visit on social media that he "appreciates the hospitality and the extensive naval expertise and professionalism of our Swedish partners." Jimmie Adamsson, the Navy's press officer, writes on X (formerly Twitter) that "the visit further strengthens the relationship with the United States."
In Stockholm, Del Toro held a meeting with Supreme Commander Micael Bydén, along with the Swedish Armed Forces' Director General Mikael Granholm and the Navy Chief. According to a post on the Supreme Commander's Instagram, the meeting addressed "the upcoming NATO membership and how cooperation and interoperability should be developed between the naval forces."
Furthermore, the minister also met with Defence Minister Pål Jonsson. The Ministry of Defence writes that they "discussed, among other things, the security situation in the Baltic Sea, Sweden's upcoming NATO membership, support for Ukraine, and the bilateral defence cooperation between Sweden and the United States." The Navy Secretary thanked for the hospitality and expressed his appreciation for discussing deepened cooperation, mutual interests, and the Baltic Sea region, according to a post on the U.S. Embassy's Facebook page.