For us in Skåne, Blekinge, Kronobergs, Kalmar, Jönköping and Östergötland counties, this means that we are strengthening our security, endurance and defense capabilities. Our six counties are strategically important. We become part of NATO’s gateway to the Baltic Sea, and form a connection between Scandinavia and the continent.
The Öresund region is the Nordic region’s most populous area with significant shipping, with large ports from Helsingborg and Malmö/Copenhagen up to Oskarshamn and Norrköping. In our part of the country, there is Sweden’s only naval base and the only engineer regiment, a robust air flotilla, a helicopter flotilla and a strong defense industry. The Southern Military Region has its headquarters and large training fields here. There are also many industries and entrepreneurs here who can quickly adjust their production if necessary. Ronneby is also one of the country’s two airports that the state owns and disposes of, which already today meets NATO’s high requirements for civil defense.
At the beginning of January, both the Minister for Civil Defence, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, and Commander-in-Chief Micael Bydén expressed a clear message: The security situation is the most serious in a very long time and a war in Sweden is no longer an improbability.
If Sweden were to be exposed to the danger of war, membership means that we can request support from the defense alliance NATO, which will then stop and contribute to our defense. But the alliance also entails obligations. Sweden needs to live up to the seven basic requirements that NATO places on its members. Our six counties and the Southern Military Region are now raising the pace in developing total defense – military and civil defense.
This is what we are currently focusing on:
- We ensure the food supply: Two of NATO’s seven basic requirements are resilient energy supply and resilienta systems for food and drinking water supply, both central to a society’s resilience during high alert. For us in southern Sweden, there is a special responsibility linked to the food supply, because a significant part of Sweden’s food and food industry is located in our part of the country. We put a special focus on this when developing the plans to protect the civilian population in war. The county administrations are now working intensively on developing civil defense together with the Armed Forces. We build total defense together.
- We increase our robustness by deploying personnel: In the next few years, many people in southern Sweden will be conscripted into the civil defense. For many of us, this means that we will continue to perform our duties, even in times of war and danger of war. Every day we see evidence in Ukraine of how important it is that everyday life works even in war. Without child care, garbage disposal and emergency services, the defense of our country is weaker.
- We are preparing to offer host country support: Host country support – civilian or military support to foreign forces within our borders – is increased when we become members of NATO. Troops with vehicles, ships, aircraft and heavy equipment must be able to stay for a shorter or longer time in our counties.
It is about direct defense cooperation, but also about civil cooperation, which will affect companies and private individuals. NATO personnel need to rent premises, conclude agreements on electricity and fuel, food, healthcare and much more.
Membership in NATO has a major impact on our counties. It places demands on us who lead the military and civil defense but also on all of us as citizens. Our primary task in war is to protect our country, our civilian population, and to ensure the functioning of the most important societal functions. We all have a role to play here.
In southern Sweden, we have many important values to protect. We are prepared.
Per Nilssoncolonel and commander of the Southern Military Region
Carl Fredrik Grafgovernor of Östergötland and head of the south-eastern civil area
Allan Widmangovernor of Kalmar County
Brittis Benzler, Governor of Jönköping County
Anneli Hulthéngovernor of Skåne County and head of the southern civil area
Ulrica MessingGovernor of Blekinge County
Maria ArnholmGovernor of Kronoberg County
