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Swedish defense officials' warning to prepare for war as the country moves closer to NATO membership has reportedly caused some panic and led to supplies flying off the shelves.
“For a nation for which peace has been a pleasant companion for almost 210 years, the idea that it is an immovable constant is practically obvious,” said Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin on Folk och Försvars, or “Society and Peace”. Defense”, annual national conference in Sälen on Sunday.
“But comforting yourself with that conclusion is more dangerous than it has been in a long time,” he said, according to a government transcript. “Many have said it before me, but let me say it in an official capacity, more clearly and with naked clarity: there could be war in Sweden.”
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Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces General Micael Biden, who visited Ukraine's Eastern Front in December, also addressed the conference on Sunday, warning all Swedes to mentally prepare for the possibility of war as their nation is just two steps away NATO membership.
Putin promises “problems” for Finland after it is “drawn into NATO”.
Sweden's Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin speaks about “Creating societal resilience cannot wait” at the National Society and Defense Conference in Salen, Sweden, on January 7, 2024. (PONTUS LUNDAHL/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
“We need to understand how serious this situation really is and that people are preparing mentally down to the individual level,” Bydén said, according to Euractiv.
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Biden later told Aftonbladet newspaper that his intention “is not to alarm people; “My aim is to get more people to think about their own situation and their own responsibilities,” said the BBC. Neighboring Finland, a new NATO member, was warned by Russian officials last month that it would be “the first to suffer” if relations deteriorated further.
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson issued a similar warning on Monday, saying: “An armed attack on Sweden cannot be ruled out,” GB News reported.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that Turkey's parliament appears set to ratify Sweden's NATO membership in the coming weeks, Portal reported. Hungary's consent would then be required. Sweden remained neutral in World War II and has not experienced an armed conflict since its brief war against Norway in 1814. On Sunday, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told the conference that Sweden was on track to meet NATO's target of spending 2% of GDP on military Defense spending has doubled since 2020, the BBC reported.
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Swedish children's rights organization Bris reported an increased number of calls this week from young people worried about the war after seeing posts on TikTok about the possibility.
“It was well prepared, there was nothing blurted out,” Bris spokeswoman Maja Dahl told the BBC. “They should have provided information for children when they put out this type of information for adults.”
Speaking to Swedish television, former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson reportedly said that while the security situation was serious, “it's not like war is right around the corner.”
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“People in Sweden are buying emergency supplies in a PANIC after the government and military warned that people need to be prepared for war,” user @amuse, an account dedicated to supporting independent journalists, claimed in a post to his almost 290,000 followers on X.
Sweden's Commander-in-Chief Micael Biden speaks during his lecture at the Society and Defense Conference in Salen on January 8, 2024. ( PONTUS LUNDAHL/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images)
Sweden's Civil Defense Ministry said on Monday: “The government is now preparing Sweden for previously unthinkable scenarios such as increased preparedness and extreme war.” “We are increasing preparedness in several areas,” the statement said. “In this context, the government now commissions the Swedish Agency for Community Protection and Preparedness (MSB) and the National Board of Health and Welfare to carry out a supply analysis regarding the need for and access to health products needed for good care.”
SWEDEN SIGNED DEFENSE PACT GIVING US ACCESS TO ALL Scandinavian military bases
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Bohlin's speech appealed to Swedes working in emergency preparedness, municipal commissioners, employees and private citizens to take responsibility for “situational awareness” and preparedness and to consider volunteering for the defense organization.
Bohlin argued that Putin's attack in 2014 united the Ukrainian people and gave them a call to begin preparing for response and resistance ahead of the all-out invasion in 2022.
“The world is facing a security situation with greater risks than at any time since the end of the Second World War. We stand with Ukraine, our allies and the rules-based international order, and we do so with advice and action as an arsenal of democracy,” said the Civil Defense Minister. “All of this will require more of us than before, and that starts with the recognition that defending Sweden is a matter for all of us.”
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“It may sound dark and dystopian,” he added. “But try to look at it the other way around. For the vast majority of us, our country is not a hotel room we can move in and out of; it’s not a generic piece of land that we don’t feel an affinity for. “For the vast majority of us, this is our one true home.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen on a screen at the National Social and Defense Conference in Salen on January 7, 2024. (PONTUS LUNDAHL/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Images)
At the conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to Sweden to work with others to strengthen weapons production in order to “work together, develop and become stronger.” Sweden is among a group of nations training Ukrainian pilots, and the capital Stockholm is also reportedly considering sending modern Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine, the BBC reported.
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In a Telegram post, Russian lawmaker Alexei Pushkov, an ally of Vladimir Putin, derided Swedish officials' war warnings as nothing more than “anti-Russian paranoia.”
“Russian submariners have been fishing there for many years, and for some this has become their main occupation in life,” he wrote. “Apparently in this way they are trying to give Sweden a geopolitical importance that it does not have. Sometimes it seems as if some Swedish military personnel as well as journalists are almost dreaming of war.”