A Swedish parliament report has said that Russian military attack against the country cannot be ruled out, reported SVT on Sunday, citing sources.
The defense committee report, to be published today, said although Russian forces were tied up in Ukraine, but other types of military attacks against Sweden could not be ruled out, the Swedish public service broadcaster said.
“Russia has also further lowered its threshold for the use of military force and exhibits a high political and military risk appetite. Russia’s ability to carry out operations with air forces, naval forces, long-range weapons or nuclear weapons against Sweden remains intact,” SVT reported citing the parliamentary panel report.
SVT said the report outlined out a new defense doctrine for Sweden, based on membership in NATO rather than the previous doctrine that relied on cooperation with fellow Nordic states and the EU.
Sweden has been scrambling to bolster its defenses and applied to join NATO last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sweden was invited to apply but Turkey and Hungary are yet to ratify the application.
SVT said the report outlined out a new defense doctrine for Sweden, based on membership in NATO rather than the previous doctrine that relied on cooperation with fellow Nordic states and the EU.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in November 2022, Sweden has ramped up defense spending and is due to meet NATO’s threshold of 2% GDP in 2026. The country had in past, like other Western states, scaled down its defense spending following the end of the Cold War.
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