Swedish army to receive additional funds to join NATO

The Swedish Armed Forces will receive 660 million Swedish kronor (58 million euros) of additional funds this year to finance the long-awaited entry into NATO.

This was stated by Swedish Defense Minister Paul Jonson, Euractiv reports.

Additional funding includes a NATO membership fee of just over 300 million Swedish kronor (26 million euros) and the cost of adapting various command and control systems to the defence alliance requirements.

"Sweden should take measures to strengthen its defence capability," Jonson said at a press conference on April 5. He stressed the importance of progress in the Swedish weapons program while Russian troops are in Ukraine.

At the same time, the Swedish government also proposes that the Defence Forces can order additional weapons and defence materials worth 16.7 billion Swedish kronor (1.4 billion euros) until 2033, which will allow the modernisation of Jas Gripen fighters.

Sweden expects to join NATO, despite the delay in ratification by the Hungarian and Turkish parliaments.