Sweden’s top general calls for Europe to develop its own nuclear deterrent

Europe needs an independent nuclear deterrence capability to ensure its security, Swedish Armed Forces Supreme Commander Micael Bydén said in an interview with Sveriges Radio, acknowledging that such a move would require the rearmament of the continent.

Bydén said that while the need for a European deterrent is clear, the form it would take remains uncertain. “We need such a capability, but at this stage I cannot say how it would be created — whether through cooperation with European nuclear powers or in some other way. As long as nuclear weapons exist that threaten our very existence, we must think along these lines in order to build an adequate deterrence capability and real defensive capacity,” he said.

The Swedish military chief also expressed regret over the expiration of the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, known as New START, between Russia and the United States. He warned that the treaty’s lapse increases uncertainty in global security.

New START formally expired on February 5, 2026. The agreement was signed in Prague on April 8, 2010, by then-US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and entered into force in 2011 as part of long-standing efforts to limit strategic nuclear arsenals.

The treaty imposed legally binding limits on deployed strategic nuclear warheads and their delivery systems, while introducing verification measures such as on-site inspections and data exchanges designed to enhance transparency and predictability between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.

Under New START, each side was limited to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads and 700 deployed delivery vehicles—intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and heavy bombers—within an overall cap of 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers. Unlike earlier arms control agreements, these limits were based on actual warhead counts, providing a more precise assessment of nuclear forces.

Although New START was extended for five years in 2021, its verification mechanisms weakened in recent years after mutual inspections were suspended amid rising geopolitical tensions, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

By Tamilla Hasanova