(cont.) Response to interpellation 2024/25:679 on the establishment of Swedish preparedness stores
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
S considers that Sweden lags behind Finland regarding food preparedness and requests how Sweden can accelerate the development to get preparedness stores operational faster 1 2. S emphasizes that civil and military defense must go hand in hand and that the state must take greater responsibility to guarantee access to food, fuel, and medicine for all citizens 1 2. S expresses concern that resources and mandates for civil defense may be insufficient 3. KD argues that Finland is far ahead of Sweden in self-sufficiency and that the build-up of civil defense is a high priority 4 5. KD emphasizes that the work is complex and requires investments in the entire food chain, including backup power and infrastructure 4 5. KD argues that Sweden and Finland face similar challenges and that knowledge exchange between the countries is important 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Hanna Westerén (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister for Rural Affairs Peter Kullgren for the answer. It was a somewhat fuller answer than when I previously submitted a written question in the same matter. It follows quite naturally that I then wish to follow up on some of the answers I have received.
I do not directly become calmer by the answer, even though I believe the Minister for Rural Affairs has done his best to develop it. We can state that Sweden and Finland, which are being compared here, differ. Minister for Rural Affairs Peter Kullgren emphasizes that ensuring food security is prioritized. I truly hope that is considered to be the case, and I do too. It is extremely prioritized that we have a functioning food security. But given how the answer is formulated, it becomes a bit doubtful whether this can really be held to be true in full.
If the Swedish total defense is to function, the military and civil preparedness must go hand in hand. The security of ensuring that the food supply functions and that the population's needs are taken seriously is absolutely crucial for the will to defend and endurance. It is, of course, an important piece of the puzzle alongside the home preparedness regarding food, fuel, medicine, and cash, which we are all expected to equip ourselves with.
In light of my mention of cash, I also hope that Minister for Rural Affairs Peter Kullgren is actively participating in the discussions that I hope were initiated after the Riksbank recommended a few weeks ago that a cash requirement be introduced for grocery stores. It is connected, and we must keep up.
I really want to emphasize that I think very much has happened regarding the Swedish preparedness and the Swedish debate concerning preparedness. But as I mention in my interpellation, Madam Speaker, Finland plans to have its preparedness stores operational in 2028, that is, in three years. It sounds, given how the answer is formulated, like a good bit before what the minister describes regarding the Swedish civil preparedness.
I look forward to learning from the lessons from Finland, but I am also a bit wondering. If even Finland, according to Kullgren, has recently initiated its project but nevertheless forecasts that they will have stores in operation by 2028 at the latest, I wonder what the forecast looks like for the Swedish ones. It is a message that plays a major role both for individual persons in Sweden and for other parts of the total defense that are to work together.
I also wonder about a phrasing in the response: "Consumers must also be able to reach the stores." There, I am genuinely surprised and wonder what is actually meant. The initiative on the preparedness stores becomes a bit shaky if it is the case that one as a consumer cannot reach them. I wonder what is meant by that passage. I also wonder whether Sweden in this context is better or worse prepared than Finland.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! It is only to be noted that Finland is far ahead of us regarding food preparedness in a wide range of areas. The absolute most central thing is that they have a self-sufficiency rate that is significantly higher than Sweden's. To put it simply: Every other bite we put into our mouths here in Sweden is not produced in our country. It is one of the absolutely most central aspects of preparedness, and we take it very seriously.
Building up civil defense, including food preparedness, is therefore of very high priority for us. But it is a rather complex task that requires investments to be made in all parts of the food chain, all the way from the soil of the field to the store shelf.
Right now, the investigation report on Food Preparedness for a New Era is being prepared in the Government Offices. However, we have already initiated investments on proposals that are in line with what is highlighted in the investigation. The starting point is that we are to invest in reserve power already this year. In addition to the generators themselves, devices are also needed to connect them, as well as fuel and solutions for how the generators shall be stored and maintained.
As I mentioned in my introduction, both Finland and Sweden still have some way to go before all questions regarding how we can achieve robust grocery stores throughout the country are resolved. There is some time left. For example, we cannot pay out support to companies without first being finished with the legal prerequisites. An important part of the pilot project for robust grocery stores is also to create a basis for the work moving forward. The work needs to be practically feasible, while at the same time it must rest on a legally secure foundation.
Hanna Westerén (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank Minister for Rural Affairs Peter Kullgren for his sincerity. I share the picture. We can state that Finland is far ahead of us in several respects. Therefore, my question, given the very serious security policy situation we are currently in and the need for political answers regarding the population's safety in a challenging time: If Finland is now so far ahead – can we tighten up? Can we cut some distance? Do we have any lesson to learn from Finland or from someone else, so that we can get to the point faster? This is urgent.
I have respect for the fact that it must be a legally secure process. Of course, support should not be paid out without grounds. But if Finland is going to be able to have a fairly large number of stores in operation already in 2028, I still want to believe that there must be some way for Sweden to, to some extent, accelerate the development. That is, at least, my hope.
I also wonder about the passage regarding being able to get to the stores, which I asked about. Peter Kullgren did not elaborate on this, but he is welcome to do so. I am still a bit uneasy about that wording. The idea behind this must be that one should be able, in a relatively easily accessible way, to have access to goods that one has not stockpiled themselves when food or other essential goods have run out.
I carry a concern regarding the total defense. A bit too often, the responsibility falls on the consumer, the citizen, and the resident. Home preparedness in all its glory – of course, we should all take responsibility for our home preparedness as best we can. But we also know that in Sweden, we have people with completely different income conditions. We have the elderly. We have the frail. For them, it is difficult to do what falls upon us all. We must collectively take a much greater responsibility so that there is access to medicines, food, fuel, and whatever it may be. That is why I believe these answers are so important. Where will there be emergency stores? To what extent will we be able to count on them? How soon will this happen?
I am completely convinced, just as Peter Kullgren does, that it is a changed time that requires completely different measures and a completely different attitude towards one another and how we take care of each other, but also towards the safety net that we jointly build up so that we can be more enduring and resilient and manage more in times of crisis, war, and other pressures.
I believe that the government must answer a bit more sharply, be a bit clearer and, as it is so popularly called, point a bit more with the whole hand, just so that the civil preparedness goes hand in hand with the military preparedness; it must hang together. I believe that we politically need those answers, but I also believe that it will become something that really contributes in a positive way to public support and will to defend when this overarching thought becomes known to large parts of the population: that in addition to the home preparedness one has, there is also a thought regarding preparedness stores.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! I can assure you that we on the government's side are not resting on our laurels regarding the work to strengthen civil defense. The clearest and earliest example of this is that we in this government have a single minister with designated responsibility for civil defense.
The expansion of the military and the civil defense must go hand in hand. I know that we are probably in complete agreement on that. But I will explain a bit more how I think.
Madam Speaker! I said in the previous contribution that Finland is far ahead regarding primary production and regarding a readiness mindset in the entire society. We have for far too long neglected the risks with a far too low level of readiness and a far too low food production and what that has meant for our security in this country. Finland is ahead regarding readiness storage.
We are looking at all these parts. We start from a low level, but we take quick steps in the right direction. One example of this is the work with robust grocery stores. We do not wait for the legal situation to be investigated in every single detail. We begin the pilot projects so that we can get started and have good examples on the ground when the budget funds for this purpose increase as early as next year.
When I speak about accessibility and that one should be able to get to a grocery store, it is to demonstrate the complexity of the issue. We can have as robust grocery stores as we want, but if we have no way to get to the store, it doesn't matter how robust it is. That is, one also needs to include the perspective that we have a functioning infrastructure – that we have safe roads to and from such a store. The work is therefore very broad and very large, and that was what I wanted to say with this.
This project initially concerns the work on how we can obtain reserve power. But, as said: there are many other parts that also need to be highlighted to achieve robust stores. The most important thing, however, is perhaps that we have any food in the store to sell at all. This government therefore has a strong focus on the fact that we must strengthen both primary production and the processing stages.
Hanna Westerén (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Rural Affairs, for the clarifications that were provided! I can agree: I believe that given the security policy situation we find ourselves in, it is absolutely excellent that we have a minister for civil defense. I think it is an important signal and a wise prioritization.
What I might be a little less impressed by is that it might be quite ungrateful for the Minister in question, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, to be Minister for Civil Defence when resources and mandates are insufficient or unclear, as I perceive them to be partly. I think it is a pity, because Swedish total defence deserves that we prioritize both military and civil defence and demand, as stated, that these go hand in hand.
When it comes specifically to the emergency stores, I am still curious. I understand that Peter Kullgren does not want to precede investigations, but I would still like to have some kind of indication regarding the forecast. How far away are we from the Finnish forecast? To what extent does Peter Kullgren believe we will have emergency stores?
When it comes to accessibility, which the Minister for Rural Affairs explained a bit more about, I may in my simplicity have assumed that accessibility is a perspective that is taken into account. In that case, I am talking about accessibility in all senses – that it is a shop that is accessible to everyone regardless of what functional ability we have, but also that we can get to it in a reasonable way, i.e., that we have functioning infrastructure. If it was this that was intended, it is truly quite excellent, because otherwise the emergency shops become obsolete.
Thank you for the debate! I believe I dare to promise that I will return to the issue.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! I absolutely share the view that it is of the utmost importance that robust grocery stores are established, not just in a few places but across the entire country. I can imagine that the store will become an important gathering point if society is subjected to a serious crisis or even to war – a place where people can inform one another and share experiences and tips on how to manage everyday life. It is important that the work accelerates, and already this year, investments in the first emergency power solutions will be made.
In the work with robust food stores, Sweden and Finland face the same challenges, and both countries are at the starting blocks to begin the work. We have so far shared knowledge and experience between the countries, and I hope that cooperation will continue in the future as well.
I also hope that the Karlstad Declaration, which I and my ministerial colleagues in the Nordic countries approved a year ago, will lead to even stronger cooperation and knowledge exchanges regarding preparedness in the future.
In conclusion, Madam Speaker, I would like to thank Hanna Westerén for an important debate.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.