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Russian Attack Cannot Be Ruled Out, Says Swedish Parliamentary Report – SVT


CV90 combat vehicles are seen during the Aurora 23 military exercise at Rinkaby firing range outside Kristianstad, Sweden, May 06, 2023. (TT News Agency/Johan Nilsson via Reuters)
CV90 combat vehicles are seen during the Aurora 23 military exercise at Rinkaby firing range outside Kristianstad, Sweden, May 06, 2023. (TT News Agency/Johan Nilsson via Reuters)

A Swedish parliament defense committee report said a Russian military attack against Sweden cannot be ruled out, Swedish public service broadcaster SVT said on Sunday, citing sources.

Sweden has been scrambling to bolster its defenses and applied to join NATO last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Sweden was invited to apply but Turkey and Hungary are yet to ratify the application.

The parliamentary report, due to be published on Monday, said that although Russian ground forces were tied up in Ukraine, other types of military attacks against Sweden could not be ruled out, SVT said, citing sources who worked on the report.

"Russia has also further lowered its threshold for the use of military force and exhibits a high political and military risk appetite. Russia's ability to carry out operations with air forces, naval forces, long-range weapons or nuclear weapons against Sweden remains intact," SVT said, citing the report.

The chairman of the parliament defense committee did not immediately reply to a request for comment. SVT said the report outlined a new defense doctrine for Sweden, based on membership in NATO rather than the previous doctrine that relied on cooperation with fellow Nordic states and the European Union.

Like most Western states, Sweden scaled down its defense following the end of the Cold War but has ramped up defense spending and is due to meet NATO's threshold of 2% GDP in 2026.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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