The Sweden Herald reports:
[https://swedenherald.com/article/longrange-robots-absolutely-necessary]
Sweden's acquisition of long-range weapons is an "absolutely necessary development," believes Minister of Defense Pål Jonson (M).
Weapons that are effective 2000 kilometers away are not a question of aggression, it is about deterrence and an important component of air defense, says Jonson.
To put it figuratively: Instead of absorbing and shooting away the arrows, you shoot away the archer, he says.The defense budget is set to grow from 148 billion this year to over 200 billion by 2030. This week, the Armed Forces submitted its considerations to the government on what the money should be used for to meet NATO requirements and to meet a growing threat. This includes, among other things, long-range missiles.
Whatever happened to Sweden?
It used to be a respected neutral country, populated by native Nordic peace-loving people, making Volvos and Saabs.
Now it is not.
Sure they had their Saab Drakens and Viggens and submarines but they didn't go out of their way to make themselves a target - for anybody.
Pål Jonson emphasizes that it is about defense and that it cannot be seen as escalation towards Russia. Instead, he believes that it is Russia that has already escalated.
It is Russia that has developed its capability with long-range missiles, both cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. Russia uses this daily against Ukraine.
Maybe he's too young to recall, but he forgets that Russia didn't develop this capability to strike Sweden but as a deterrence against the USA/NATO alliance and their obvious policy of encirclement (what used to be called containment) of Russia.
And most of this development took place when Sweden was not a NATO member and wasn't a threat to Russia because it wasn't trying to get missiles with enough range to reach Moscow.
Maybe it's the meatballs or that salty liquorice but Sweden seems to have lost its way and become another country that might get what it clearly wishes for.