We have to be prepared for long war - Swedish Defense Minister Jonson

Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said this in an interview with RBC-Ukraine on April 22, 2023.

“I think we have to be prepared that the war may be long, unfortunately. And so it is very important to make sure that we can provide logistics, spare parts, and ammunition. Sweden currently holds the presidency of the European Union, and we are working hard to galvanize support within the EU so that we can fulfill the commitment to provide up to 1 million artillery shells within one year. This is of key importance,” Mr. Jonson emphasized.

In this regard, the minister added, the EU countries should increase production.

“I think that many of us have good reasons to think about both the military-industrial complex strategy and what we can do to increase the production of artillery shells. I had a meeting with European Commissioner Breton the day before yesterday (EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton - ed.), he was in Sweden, he is traveling to many countries, and I welcome it. He is traveling around Europe to see production, to talk to industry representatives, and we are ready to do everything necessary to increase production. So, it's not only about the procurement mechanism, but also about increasing production capacity,” explained Pål Jonson.

In his opinion, the current Russian-Ukrainian war is “to some extent a war of attrition, a war in which security of supply is really key.”

“And so we are now in Sweden reviewing our industrial capacities to show that we have an industrial base that can both ensure that we increase our defense spending to 2% of GDP and at the same time do more to support Ukraine on its long journey,” Jonson added.