Sweden’s newly elected center-right government has prioritized spending on defense-strengthening measures in its draft budget bill for 2023, eying to edge the country closer to NATO’s target quota.
Sweden, along with fellow unaligned Nordic nation Finland, is currently awaiting unanimous consent from NATO members to join the alliance, a process that could reach its conclusion in 2023 despite reservations about their applications being expressed by Hungary and Turkey.
The “Total Defense” focus in the Swedish government’s defense budgetary plan aims to raise military spending to 2% of gross domestic product by 2026. The defense budget is on course to grow by $800 million in 2023, backed by higher capital investments to strengthen cyber-defense, signals intelligence, defense preparedness and the expanded intake of military personnel.
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Source: C4ISRNET