In June, Anna Wieslander was interviewed for the new edition of the European Defense Agency’s European Defense Matters Magazine.
Some of her main messages include:
- 1. On burden-sharing: It’s more realistic to move up towards a target of spending 3% on defence, and I would like to see that as a NATO pledge for 2030.
- 2. On Russia: Everyone should know that Russia has entered into a war economy. We are also facing massive hybrid threats from Russia. So, in a sense, Europe is in a low intensity war with Russia, as Russia is targeting our society day in and day out in various ways, although not militarily.
- 3. On more Europe in NATO: A European pillar in NATO would need to encompass all European assets, including Norway, Britain, and even Turkey, countries ready and willing to act, perhaps as first responders if the United States is strained elsewhere, such as in the Indo-Pacific theatre. The United States no longer has the ability to conduct two regional wars in parallel, as it did during the Cold War.
Further reading
Wed, Apr 26, 2023
A glimpse of Sweden in NATO: Gotland could be a game-changer for Baltic defense
New Atlanticist By
Sweden's largest military exercise in twenty-five years highlights the strategically important island of Gotland in defending NATO allies.
Fri, Jul 7, 2023
Will eleventh-hour diplomacy get Sweden into NATO by the Vilnius summit?
New Atlanticist By
At stake in Vilnius is not only the security of Sweden and the Alliance as a whole, but NATO’s open-door credibility.
Fri, Jan 6, 2023
How allied Sweden and Finland can secure Northern Europe
Issue Brief By
NATO is approaching its ninth round of enlargement. The accession of Sweden and Finland—two solid democracies and defenders of the international-rules based order—into the Alliance will strengthen the core of the transatlantic community.