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Sweden plans to increase its 2024 defense budget to 27 billion crowns, surpassing NATO’s 2% GDP threshold, the government disclosed on Monday.
In the forthcoming autumn budget, an additional 700 million crowns will be allocated to defense, taking the total defense expenditure to 119 billion crowns for the year, nearly double that of the 2020 budget. This surge in funding is envisaged to equate to 2.1% of the nation’s GDP, thereby exceeding the benchmark set by NATO at 2%.
Defense Minister Pal Jonson conveyed the gravity of the prevailing security situation in a news conference, stating, “We are in the most serious security policy situation since the end of the Second World War.”
While Sweden received an invitation to become a member of NATO in 2023, the nation is still waiting for the approval of its application by Turkey and Hungary.
