His Majesty the King, Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard, Third Vice-President of the Chamber Kerstin Lundgren, the party leaders of the Riksdag (Parliament) and the ordinary or alternate members of the Foreign Affairs Advisory Council.
It is the first time since the 1990s that an exercise of this scale has been organized with the royal family and the Armed Forces, highlights the Nordic government. Russia currently constitutes the main threat to Sweden.
The Swedish government announced this Friday that it had carried out a war simulation exercise with the participation of members of the royal family and the Armed Forces, in one written in English and translated only into… Russian.
It is the first time since the 1990s that an exercise of this scale has been organized with all these actors, highlights the Nordic government.
“It is important to carry out joint exercises, especially given the current security situation. Step by step and exercise after exercise, we strengthen Sweden’s total defense and resilience”, declared Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, quoted in the statement.
The exercise, based on a scenario involving a war or risk of war, aimed to discuss the measures to be taken to maintain Sweden’s security in a situation of this type.
“These exercises focus on the management of incidents and situations, at national and international level, likely to create challenges or tensions for Sweden, Swedish citizens or Swedish interests”, they indicated.
This paragraph is followed by a Russian translation of the statement. According to the country’s intelligence and defense services, the Russia currently constitutes the main threat to Sweden.
Stockholm accelerated the increase in its military expenditure after the invasion of Ukraine and since its accession to NATO in 2024. The country plans to allocate around 300 billion Swedish kronor (27 billion euros) to the Defense area over the next ten years.
Sweden has been one of the most active European countries in denouncing a Russian threat that it says is very real. Already a year ago, millions of Swedes began receiving a version of the pamphlet in their mailboxes, which advises the population on how to prepare for and face war. The pamphlet had already been distributed when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but in 2024 it was twice the size and number of councils.
For Swedes, the idea of a civil emergency leaflet is nothing new. The first edition of “If War Comes” was produced during World War II and was updated during the Cold War. However, one of the passages in the text was changed, as it was associated with the time when the country was still neutral: “If Sweden is attacked by another country, we will never give up. All information to the effect that resistance must cease is false.”
