STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s government said on Wednesday it would boost defence spending by around 3 billion Swedish crowns ($318.17 million) this year as it looks to speed up rearmament in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The result will mean that we can strengthen our capacity on Gotland, increase the number of employees in the military, increase supplies of fuel and ammunition, of crucial supplies and that we can bring forward the procurement of materiel and vehicles,” Swedish TV quoted Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist saying.
Last week the government said it would raise the military budget to 2% of GDP as soon as possible and has been discussing with opposition parties how to speed up the process.
($1 = 9.4289 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Stockholm Newsroom; editing by Johan Ahlander)
