Swedish military leaders issued a sobering warning on Sunday, telling the civilian population that “there could be war in Sweden” as the country prepares to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) later this year. The threat of international conflict for the historically neutral Scandinavian country has reportedly thrown the public into a minor panic, leading other officials to condemn the warning as “alarmism.”
Speaking at the annual “Society and Defense” conference in Sälen on Sunday, Swedish Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin emphasized the potential consequences of his country’s pending application for NATO membership. After a lengthy approval process, Sweden now only needs the endorsement of Turkey and Hungary before it can join the alliance.
In what was intended to be a stirring call to action, the minister urged ordinary citizens to ask themselves a simple question: “Who are you if war comes?”
“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,” he said. “But taking comfort in this conclusion has become more dangerous than it has been for a very long time.”
Sweden has notably not been involved in an armed conflict since 1814 when it engaged in a brief conflict with neighboring Norway—and that war only lasted two weeks and five days.
Sweden remained neutral during both World Wars, but with only two more steps between it and full NATO membership, Bohlin fears this may not be an option in the future.
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“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,” Bohlin continued.
General Micael Byden, commander in chief of the Swedish armed forces, echoed this sentiment in a speech later that same day and told citizens to be “mentally prepared” for violence.
“We must understand how serious this situation really is and that people, down to the individual level, are preparing themselves mentally,” he said.
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson also agreed with this assessment the next day, saying that “an armed attack against Sweden cannot be ruled out.”
The primary reason for this dire warning seems to be Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, which many experts claim was spurred on at least in part by the smaller nation’s deepening ties to NATO. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions extend beyond the borders of Ukraine, reaching as far as the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Moldova) and possibly even Poland and Sweden as well.
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“Look at the news from Ukraine and ask yourself the simple questions: If this happens here, am I prepared? What should I do?” Byden told local news station SVT on Monday. “The more people who have thought, considered, and prepared, the stronger our society will be.”
But while military officials issued these warnings in the hopes of “making the vast majority of people aware of the situation,” other government branches are accusing them of setting off an unnecessary panic.
Reports of large-scale panic-buying and empty store shelves quickly arose, and children’s rights groups expressed concerns about the youth seeing these dire predictions on social media.
Ex-prime minister Magdalena Andersson reassured local media that while the security situation is certainly a serious matter, “it is not as if war is just outside the door.”
But while the Swedish government addresses the fear of Russian aggression, unaddressed domestic issues may be a more immediate problem.
In September, Sweden experienced an unprecedented wave of violence as criminal gangs fought running gun battles in the streets of major cities, killing bystanders and setting off explosives.
In the last two decades, millions of third-world migrants have flooded across Sweden’s borders, coinciding with the country going from being the safest country in Europe to being the second-most dangerous. A recent study also found that 84 percent of violent or “serious” rapes in Sweden are carried out by non-Europeans, with Algerian migrants being over 500 times more likely to commit a sexual assault than a native.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer covering politics, culture, and business for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X (Twitter).
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