{"id":602846,"date":"2023-12-29T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/scandinavia-is-boosting-its-defense-spending-even-as-swedens-nato-entry-is-stalled\/"},"modified":"2023-12-29T15:30:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T12:30:00","slug":"scandinavia-is-boosting-its-defense-spending-even-as-swedens-nato-entry-is-stalled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/scandinavia-is-boosting-its-defense-spending-even-as-swedens-nato-entry-is-stalled\/","title":{"rendered":"#Scandinavia is boosting its defense spending even as Sweden\u2019s NATO entry is stalled"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1518805155.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>            <iframe title=\"Audio Article\" id=\"instaread_iframe\" name=\"instaread_playlist\" scrolling=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" style=\"display:block\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After a needless two-month delay, the Turkish Grand National Assembly\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee finally <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/sweden-turkey-nato-membership-veto-erdogan-f16-6bdc19e81d84a0ab18ac2d48ca65b507\">approved<\/a> Sweden\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lication for NATO membership earlier this week. But Fuad Oktay, the committee\u2019s chairman, made it clear that full parliamentary ratification was still some time away. Since the parliament, like the committee, is controlled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s AK party, Sweden\u2019s NATO accession will continue to depend on the whim of the Turkish leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For his part, Erdogan continues to demand that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin finally approve the sale to Turkey of both F-16 fighters and upgrade kits for F-1s already in the Turkish Air Force, and that Canada should do the same with respect to the sale of drone cameras. More than 19 months have passed since Stockholm first applied for NATO membership. Since there has thus far been little movement on these issues either in Washington or Ottawa, the question of when Sweden actually will join NATO thus remains very much up in the air.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Even as Swedish entry remains in abeyance, however, Washington has worked with Stockholm to continue the process of ever closer military cooperation that began more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n<p>Early in December, Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed a new Defense Cooperation Agreement that, in the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.government.se\/government-policy\/military-defence\/defense-cooperation-agreement-with-the-united-states\/\">words<\/a> of the Swedish defense ministry, regulates \u201cissues such as \u2026 access to deployment areas, pre-positioning of military materiel, and \u2026 creates conditions for US military support should the security situation demand it, and is therefore an agreement of great consequence to Sweden\u2019s security.\u201d The State Department has also pointed out that \u201cby design, the DCA will apply seamlessly before and after Sweden\u2019s accession to the NATO Status of Forces Agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The agreement with Sweden followed upon a Defense Cooperation Agreement that the United States had reached with Norway in 2021. And last week, Washington signed two more such agreements, with new NATO member Finland and with Denmark, one of NATO\u2019s longest-standing members. Both of these agreements provided for more joint training and enhanced interoperability between the American military and its Scandinavian counterparts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Improved interoperability has long been a NATO objective. It has yet to be fully realized, in part because of what one expert <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nato.int\/docu\/review\/articles\/2015\/06\/16\/enhancing-interoperability-the-foundation-for-effective-nato-operations\/index.html\">described<\/a> as \u201ctechnological disparities, command and control, doctrinal differences, and resource gaps.\u201d Those words were written nearly a decade ago; whether the new agreements can lead to progress in this regard is therefore still an open question.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, the commitment on the part of both the U.S. and its Scandinavians allies and partners to increased joint training and exercises sends an important message to Moscow regarding NATO\u2019s determination to deter Russian aggression in the Baltic region. Moreover, the Scandinavians are underscoring that message with new undertakings to increase their defense spending. In June, the Norwegian government announced that defense spending would reach the NATO target of 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2026, a real increase of some 45 percent over 2023 levels.<\/p>\n<p>In September, the Swedish defense ministry announced that its 2024 defense budget would increase by 28 percent over the previous year\u2019s, enabling Sweden to meet the NATO percent target that very year. The Swedish increase is especially noteworthy as 2024 defense spending will also result in a doubling of the defense budget in just four years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>In October, Finland announced its own 5 percent increase in defense spending. Helsinki\u2019s defense spending already had virtually reached the 2 percent threshold in 2022; the 2024 defense budget would amount to 2.3 percent of GDP. A significant portion of that budget is to be allocated to security along Finland\u2019s 832 mile land border with Russia \u2014 the longest in NATO.<\/p>\n<p>The upgrade in border defense is in response to new Russian construction at the Petrozavodsk base in Karelia, about 110 miles from the Finnish town of Kitee; it is perhaps no coincidence that a month after its budget announcement, Finland closed its border with Russia in order to prevent an influx of migrants that Helsinki asserted were part of Moscow\u2019s hybrid warfare operations to destabilize the country.<\/p>\n<p>Denmark is lagging behind its Scandinavian neighbors in reaching NATO\u2019s 2 percent target \u2014 it will only do so in a decade\u2019s time. Nevertheless, it has committed to annual increases of $3 billion over the next decade. And, just as it has roused itself from its defense budget torpor in the aftermath of the 2021 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Denmark could well accelerate its plans to reach NATO\u2019s spending goal. Perhaps its latest agreement with the U.S. will act as a spur in that regard.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>The latest round of agreements with Washington, coupled with the efforts by the Scandinavian states to boost their defense spending, are both timely and welcome. Moreover, in conjunction with the agreements reached this month, all three Scandinavian states recommitted themselves to support Ukraine. These commitments are especially heartening given the Biden administration\u2019s challenging struggle to win more funding for aid to Ukraine in Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Many on Capitol Hill who oppose such aid point to Europe\u2019s unwillingness to spend money to defend itself. Perhaps the latest budgetary efforts on the part of America\u2019s Nordic and Baltic friends and allies will convince at least some otherwise skeptical legislators that \u2014 thanks to Vladimir Putin \u2014 more European states have at last hit an inflection point on defense spending while maintaining their support for Kyiv. Given these developments, perhaps those lawmakers will recognize that now would be the worst possible time for America to be seen as backsliding from its hitherto solid support for Kyiv\u2019s fight for its continued freedom and independence.<\/p>\n<p><em>Dov S. Zakheim is a senior adviser at the\u00a0<\/em><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.csis.org\/\"><em>Center for Strategic and International Studies<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0and vice chairman of the board for the\u00a0<\/em><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fpri.org\/\"><em>Foreign Policy Research Institute<\/em><\/a><em>. He was undersecretary of Defense (comptroller) and chief financial officer for the Department of Defense from 2001 to 2004 and a deputy undersecretary of Defense from 1985 to 1987.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/international\/4380930-scandinavia-is-boosting-its-defense-spending-even-as-swedens-nato-entry-is-stalled\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a needless two-month delay, the Turkish Grand National Assembly\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee finally approved Sweden\u2019s application for NATO membership earlier this week. But Fuad Oktay, the committee\u2019s chairman, made it clear that full parliamentary ratification was still some time away. Since the parliament, like the committee, is controlled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s AK&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":602847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1518805155.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[117,134343,5046,28340,72665,73014,33487,124783,128582,40445,134351,4356,75723,75392,4975,148004,11719,75393,70868,134845],"class_list":["post-602846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-business","tag-campaign","tag-denmark","tag-europe","tag-finland","tag-health-care","tag-immigration","tag-international","tag-lloyd-austin","tag-media","tag-morning-report","tag-nato","tag-norway","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-russia","tag-scandinavia","tag-sweden","tag-turkey","tag-ukraine","tag-ukraine-aid"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}