2017.12.22

The Defence Committee submits a report on total defence

The Defence Committee states in the report that an armed attack against Sweden cannot be ruled out. It cannot be ruled out that military means of force or threats of such may be used against Sweden. Sweden will inevitably be affected if a security crisis or armed conflict arises in our immediate area. Total defence must be designed and dimensioned to be able to meet an armed attack against Sweden, including acts of war on Swedish territory.

The Defence Committee proposes that the goal of total defence should be to defend Sweden against armed attack individually and together with others, within and outside the country, and to safeguard our security, freedom, independence and freedom of action.

The Defence Committee submits proposals in the report that mean that the total defence is given an improved ability and endurance to handle an armed attack and war on Swedish territory as well as situations with so-called grey zone problems. The ability to withstand serious disruptions in the functionality of society for three months and war for part of this time should be the starting point for planning and the basis for the total defence's overall capability. The proposals involve, among other things, clearer responsibility and management relationships, the establishment of a civil protection system, reinforcement resources for the rescue services and the police, an improved ability in the healthcare system to handle major damage outcomes, improved information and cyber security and increased preparedness in the food and energy supply.

The proposals are also considered to strengthen peacetime crisis preparedness. The proposals mean that the current defense policy direction, which states that civil defense should be based on crisis preparedness, is supplemented with measures for the specific demands of war. The capacity of civil defense will consist of both society's basic ability to handle peacetime crises and society's planning and preparations for the most extreme situation, namely war.

The Defence Committee estimates that the costs of the proposals presented in the report to strengthen civil defence and total defence will total approximately SEK 4.2 billion per year at the end of the defence decision period 2021–2025.

Considerations and proposals regarding Swedish security policy and associated consequences and ambitions regarding military capability in the period 2021 to 2025 will be presented by the Defence Committee no later than 14 May 2019.

Read the report here.