Sweden´s total defence has been resumed
Published: 7 November 2019
Due to the deteriorated security policy situation in Europe, the Government has decided to resume Sweden’s total defence. The term total defence denotes all activities that are needed to prepare Sweden for war. In the report Motståndskraft -Inriktningen av totalförsvaret och utformningen av det civila försvaret 2021–2025 (Resilience – The total defence concept and the development of civil defence 2021–2015), the Swedish Defence Commission noted that the financial system could be a direct target or could be indirectly exploited in some form of attack. It is therefore important that the financial sector further develop its crisis preparedness.
The Government has given the Swedish Armed Forces and Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency the assignment that there is coherent planning for total defence. As there is no designated sector-responsible authority for the financial services sector, the Riksbank is coordinating the planning that has been initiated together with other involved authorities within the financial services sector.