The Swedish Parliament’s Defense Committee has flagged the possibility that Russia could mount an attack on Sweden. This assessment appears in a committee report that Swedish broadcaster SVT reviewed. The report underscores that even as Russian troops participate in actions connected to the conflict in Ukraine, the option of Sweden facing military aggression cannot be dismissed.
Officials caution that Russia has lowered the threshold for using force and shows a readiness to take substantial political and military risks. While Russia’s capacity to carry out air, maritime, long-range, or nuclear operations against Sweden remains intact, the implications of this capability are treated with heightened concern by Swedish defense planners.
One author of the report described the document as a decisive signal to Russia, and the report’s title, Allvarstid, translates to Time of Significance. SVT sources indicate the phrase echoes memories of the World War II era and a sense of gravity about Sweden’s security environment.
The report outlines a new Swedish defense doctrine anchored in the realities of a NATO partnership. In parallel, Thomas Nilsson, head of Sweden’s military intelligence and security service, is reported to consider that Russia may have placed obstacles to Sweden’s potential accession to the North Atlantic Alliance.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has stated that there are no guarantees Sweden will join the alliance by the planned summit in Vilnius, with discussions focusing on the evolving security landscape and the steps Sweden would need to take to meet alliance criteria.