Swedish Defense Minister P\u00e5l Jonson delivers a speech during the NATO Industry Forum in Stockholm on October 25, 2023<\/p>\n
Swedish officials are warning their citizens to be readier than ever in case of war.<\/p>\n
In May 2022, Sweden and Finland, known for their neutrality, announced that they would join NATO<\/a> in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that year. While Finland officially joined the alliance in April 2023, Sweden’s bid to join faced obstacles when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan<\/a> criticized the nation’s alleged inaction against Islamophobia, calling it a “red line.” Hungary has also expressed concerns about Swedish membership<\/p>\n Erdo\u011fan later gave his approval<\/a> for Sweden’s NATO accession, though the Turkish Grand National Assembly still needs to give it the green light. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n said late last year that his country was in no hurry to approve Sweden’s bid.<\/p>\n However, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told German news agency DPA last week that Sweden has made all necessary concessions, predicting that the country will be approved as NATO’s 32nd member by its next summit, set for July in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n Sweden’s entry into the alliance would boost NATO’s regional impact<\/a>, giving all five Nordic nations near-total control of “NATO Lake,” a reference to the strategic importance of the Baltic Sea. Military airpower provided to NATO on Sweden’s behalf would be a challenge to Russian forces in the sea, experts previously told<\/a> Newsweek<\/em>.<\/p>\n Now, nearly two years into the Russia-Ukraine conflict and amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Swedish citizens are being asked to be more cautious and prepared than ever<\/p>\n “For a nation for whom peace has been a pleasant companion for almost 210 years, the idea that it is an immovable constant is conveniently close at hand,” Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin said Sunday during an annual conference in S\u00e4len, a village on the country’s eastern side.<\/p>\n “But taking comfort in this conclusion has become more dangerous than it has been for a very long time,” he continued. Many have said it before me, but let me do so in an official capacity, more plainly and with naked clarity: There could be war in Sweden.”<\/p>\n Newsweek<\/em> reached out to the Swedish Defense Ministry and Civil Defense Ministry via email for comment<\/p>\n Bohlin said his words weren’t meant to cause fear but rather to create “situation awareness.” He noted how Ukrainians likely thought their conflicts with Russia were a thing of the past until President Vladimir Putin<\/a> decided to illegally annex Crimea in 2014 and then eight years later launched a full-scale invasion of the country.<\/p>\n “Societal resilience requires exactly that: situational awareness\u2014awareness among individual citizens, employees, entrepreneurs and decision-makers in public administration,” Bohlin said. “But it is not enough to simply contemplate the question. Civil defense is not primarily a theoretical exercise. Awareness must be translated into practical action, measures that actually raise the threshold.”<\/p>\n Swedish Defense Minister P\u00e5l Jonson issued the same warning during his own speech<\/a> on Monday in S\u00e4len. He said the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East indicated that “the world has become more dangerous than it was just a year ago.”<\/p>\n Continues \u2026<\/a><\/p>\n The trouble is, the Swedish Defence Minister isn\u2019t the only one sounding so ominous. The fact P\u00e5l Jonson\u2019s grim warnings have been echoed elsewhere across Europe should make us suspicious.<\/p>\n After all, the elite had been banking on Covid-19 \u2018vaccine\u2019 to initiate a drawn-out process of depopulation. However, things haven\u2019t gone as smoothly as they had hoped.<\/p>\n So now they are resorting to a fallback option: World War III. Ed.<\/p>\n The Netherlands should be better prepared for conflict with Russia, and that goes for both the armed forces and the general population, Dutch army chief Martin Wijnen said in an interview with the Telegraaf<\/a>.<\/p>\n This does not mean \u201ceveryone will have to start wearing a helmet,\u201d he said. But the Netherlands should be following the example of Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states, which border Russia and where the population is much better prepared for the idea of a war with their much larger neighbour.<\/p>\n Wijnen, who is standing down on January 1 has been commander of the Dutch armed forces since 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Netherlands needs to learn that the entire society must be ready if things go wrong,\u201d he said. That means, for example, that people should stockpile enough food and water.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Netherlands should not think that our security is guaranteed because we are 1,500 kilometres further away,\u201d he told the paper.<\/p>\n Wijnen is not alone in his standpoint. Earlier this month the chief of staff of the Belgian army said he feared war with Russia and called for better preparations. Germany\u2019s defence minister Boris Pistorius has also called for the\u00a0return of military service.<\/a><\/p>\n Russia, said Wijnen is getting stronger. \u201cThere is only one language Russia understands and that is a robust army,\u201d he said. It is, therefore, essential, he said, to reduce the shortage of people working for the defence ministry.<\/p>\n Some 600 youngsters took part in a voluntary year of service with the armed forces introduced this year along similar lines to Sweden. Wijnen said he hopes that in the future 2,000 to 3,000 youngsters will take part, around one third of whom will probably sign up for an army career.<\/p>\nComment — Jan 9, 2024<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\u201cWe need to be prepared for war with Russia\u201d: Dutch army chief<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Dutch News \u2013 Dec 28, 2023<\/strong><\/h3>\n