Right now, the Defense Committee is negotiating the conditions for Sweden’s total defense in the coming years. In recent years, military defense has been strongly strengthened with a doubling of funding from 2020 to now, from SEK 60 billion to SEK 120 billion. This investment has taken place in agreement between all parties. For several years, the Green Party has also stood behind a faster and more comprehensive build-up of total defence, both regarding the military and civil defence.
Total defense out of balance
We stand behind the agreement from spring 2022 that two percent of GDP should be set aside for military defense as soon as possible. But the more investment is made in military defense without significant investment in civil defense at the same time, the greater the imbalance within total defense becomes. Before we talk about possible further investments in military defense, the investments in civil defense must catch up.
The Green Party wants to see a total defense in balance. In order for the military defense to be able to function in the event of heightened preparedness and ultimately war, a strong civil defense is required that is able to protect the civilian population, keep important social functions running and support the military defense. Therefore, the balance between investments in military and civil defense must be improved.
Major investments in civil defense and crisis preparedness are required to catch up. During the time that the military defense was reduced in scope, the civil defense was basically shut down. The authority for public protection and preparedness has estimated that around SEK 30 billion per year would be needed to strengthen the civil defense’s capabilities. These are large amounts, but at the same time we know that the cost of not preparing society to be able to withstand crises and, in the worst case, war, is significantly greater.
Organic farming more robust
The Green Party emphasizes the importance of having a broad view of security. The threat picture today is both broad and complex. Military threats as well as non-military threats and hybrid threats exist in parallel. We need to be prepared to face both the military threats and other threats such as climate change and natural disasters, pandemics and cyber attacks. We therefore need to be prepared to withstand crises as well as war. At worst, at the same time.
This means that the preparedness we build must be able to handle many different types of threats. The capability within civil defense also contributes strongly to society’s resilience against crises other than military ones, for example against natural disasters in the wake of the climate crisis.
An important part of strengthening civil defense is to ensure robust supply readiness. The Green Party wants to promote organic and sustainable production of food, secure clean drinking water and create conditions for domestic production of fuel. In this way, we can increase our self-sufficiency and reduce our vulnerability to threats and crises. Organic farming is carried out without artificial fertilizers and chemical pesticides. Thus, this agriculture is more robust in relation to conventional agriculture which is dependent on these inputs which must be imported.
Don’t cut welfare
Transport is essential for society to function, even in crisis or war. But due to a lack of investment in the railway, one can be far from certain that the trains in Sweden will run even under peacetime conditions. In Ukraine, despite the ongoing war, they have managed to maintain train traffic, which many times in recent years has been more efficient there than in Sweden. The Green Party demands that railway maintenance be prioritized.
Before we talk about possible further investments in military defense, the investments in civil defense must catch up.
Basically, it’s about the fact that we need to have a strong and robust society. Civil defense is ultimately based on us having a society and a welfare system that functions in peace. In this way, these functions have better conditions to change to a state of high readiness and war. Therefore, the Green Party looks with great concern at how the current government’s cutbacks affect health care, social care and schools.
A care that is breaking down in peace will not be able to cope with the challenges of war. If those who participate in the defense cannot feel secure that children as well as the elderly and sick relatives are safe in care and school, the defense effort will be weakened. Therefore, it is important that investments in defense are financed in a way that does not involve further cuts in welfare.
The security policy situation is serious. Therefore, it is even more important that we realize that what is required to build a safe, secure and resilient society is not just more resources for military defence. It is high time that the civil defense gets the resources required for us to reach a balanced total defence.
