STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A report by parliament’s defense committee said a Russian military attack on Sweden could not be ruled out, Swedish public service broadcaster SVT said on Sunday, citing sources.
Sweden has been striving to bolster its defenses and applied to join NATO last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sweden has been invited to apply but Türkiye and Hungary have not yet ratified the application.
The parliamentary report, due to be published on Monday, said that although Russian ground forces were constrained in Ukraine, other types of military offensives against Sweden could not be ruled out, SVT said, citing sources who worked on the report.
“Russia has also lowered the threshold for the use of military force and is showing a high appetite for political and military risks. Russia’s ability to carry out operations with air forces, navy, long-range weapons or nuclear weapons against Sweden remains unchanged,” SVT said, citing the report.
The head of parliament’s defense committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SVT said the report outlined a new defense doctrine for Sweden, based on membership in NATO rather than the previous one that relied on cooperation with other Nordic countries and the European Union.
Like most Western countries, Sweden reduced its defense after the end of the Cold War but increased defense spending and is set to meet the NATO threshold of 2% of GDP in 2026.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander). Editing by David Evans
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