Yesterday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) presented how the latest in a series of Swedish aid packages to Kiev will be distributed.
Of the SEK 720 million (€62.5 million), 490 million (€42.5 million) will go directly to the Ukrainian military, including for the purchase of anti-aircraft missiles, while SEK 230 million (€20 million) will be spent on a Danish initiative focused on the procurement of Ukrainian-made defense equipment.
– This is an effective and quick way to support Ukraine, Kristersson (M) said during a recent press conference in Reykjavik.
The day before yesterday, Zelensky landed in Iceland to meet with Nordic leaders to seek even more support and funding – which he received. All five Nordic prime ministers announced Monday night that they intend to jointly allocate large sums of money to support Ukraine’s defense industry.
“Within the framework of the previously announced support package for Ukraine, the governments intend to provide financial support to Ukraine in the amount of €63 million, or approximately SEK 720 million. The financial support will include €20 million to support Ukraine’s industrial base. This is based on a Danish model, which aims to support procurement by Ukrainian industry on the basis of proposals from Ukraine. The financial assistance will also include support of approximately €43 million for a number of multilateral initiatives in support of Ukraine”, the Swedish government said in a press release.
“Strengthening Europe’s defense industrial base”
“On Thursday, the Government decided to authorize the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) to negotiate and enter into an agreement with Denmark on the donation of €20 million for the procurement of defence materiel by the Ukrainian defence industry for donation to Ukraine, and to instruct the Swedish Armed Forces to disburse the funds to Denmark”, the statement adds.
It is a matter of Swedish taxpayers financing procurements that the Ukrainian industry wants to carry out and “ensuring that the donated funds are used effectively”.
“By increasing production in Ukraine, the overall European defense industrial base is strengthened. A strengthened defense industrial base is necessary to meet the great needs due to the war in Ukraine and the build-up of defense capabilities by European countries”, it says.
I am grateful to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson @SwedishPM and the Government of Sweden for their decision to provide another defense support package to Ukraine, valued at $445 million.
This important assistance, including anti-aircraft systems, anti-tank weapons, and financial…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 9, 2024
More Swedish billions
The 43 million euros to help Ukraine through various “multilateral initiatives” will be used, among other things, to procure fighter missiles for the Ukrainian F-16 program, to train Ukrainian marines, to procure mine-clearance equipment, and to procure technical hardware of various kinds.
According to the government, since February 2022, Sweden has donated a total of SEK 57.4 billion (€5 billion) in money, weapons and operations to Kiev – in addition to the sanctions imposed on Russia. This means that Sweden’s generous support for Ukraine has so far cost each working Swede an average of SEK 11,714, equivalent to about one thousand euros.
By comparison, Sweden’s entire justice system cost SEK 70 billion (€6 billion) last year, while the cost of all health, medical and social care amounted to SEK 107 billion (€9.3 billion). Critics have suggested that the Swedish aid to Ukraine will contribute to further escalation of the conflict and places a significant financial burden on Swedish taxpayers. They have also proposed that the funds could be better allocated elsewhere.