(Bloomberg) — Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson indicated the country could increase its defense spending due to the risk of hybrid warfare in the Scandinavian and Baltic regions.
“I do not at all rule out that the situation will force us to take more steps to build and expand Sweden's defense,” Kristersson said on Sunday in his opening speech at a security conference, Folk och Forsvar, in the Salen ski resort. .
Kristersson pointed out that the Baltic countries invest about 3% of their economies in defense, while Finland spends 2.4% but has twice as many conscripts despite a smaller population than Sweden's. “European NATO must do more,” he added.
His comments come as NATO steps up surveillance operations in the Baltic Sea, deploying two ships to the area following suspected sabotage of submarine cables between Finland and Estonia.
The Prime Minister said it would be wrong to jump to conclusions about the latest episode of cable damage, but added that “Sweden is not naive and hostile intentions cannot be ruled out.”
At a later press conference, the government announced that the country's armed forces and coast guard would deepen their cooperation in the Baltic Sea. The prime minister also said his country would deploy three warships and an aircraft in the coming days for a planned NATO surveillance operation in the region.
The Nordic country officially became NATO's newest member in March last year, a move seen as strengthening the defense alliance's hold over Northern Europe and the Baltic region.
“Sweden is not at war, but there is no peace either,” Kristersson said.
(Updates with more details.)
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