Question Time
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
S argues that electricity prices in southern Sweden risk record levels due to the government's refusal to pause the flow-based model 1 and that electricity prices in different areas are unacceptably different 2. KD argues that households are affected by irresponsible energy policy 3, that the flow-based model is not the cause of high prices 4, that the lack of base load is a factor 5 6 and that Sweden has a power shortage rather than an electricity shortage 7. KD wants to facilitate small-scale hydropower and advocates for a national infrastructure plan 8. M argues that countries receiving aid should follow international law 9 10, that aid should be transparent 11 and that no tax crown should finance terrorism 12. M emphasizes that national security is the government's most important responsibility 13 and that Sweden is dependent on developments in the Indo-Pacific region. M advocates for a reporting obligation for the Armed Forces 13 and joint procurement of defense materiel 14. SD argues that countries receiving aid should take in their own citizens and sees an opportunity to promote the return of Syrians 15. L considers the lack of cost control at Trafikverket to be worrying 16 and emphasizes the importance of getting as much infrastructure as possible for the money. V argues that simplified environmental processes for the Armed Forces involve great risks to nature, drinking water, and farmland 17. C argues that punctuality on roads and railways is heading in the wrong direction 18.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Speakers (75)
- TREDJE VICE TALMANNEN
- Fredrik Olovsson (S)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Fredrik Olovsson (S)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Ludvig Aspling (SD)
- Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
- Ludvig Aspling (SD)
- Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
- Birger Lahti (V)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Birger Lahti (V)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Ulrika Heie (C)
- Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
- Ulrika Heie (C)
- Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
- Nils Seye Larsen (MP)
- Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
- Nils Seye Larsen (MP)
- Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
- Helena Storckenfeldt (M)
- Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
- Helena Storckenfeldt (M)
- Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
- Magnus Jacobsson (KD)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Magnus Jacobsson (KD)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Helena Gellerman (L)
- Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
- Helena Gellerman (L)
- Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
- Monica Haider (S)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Angelika Bengtsson (SD)
- Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
- Hanna Gunnarsson (V)
- Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
- Christofer Bergenblock (C)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Katarina Luhr (MP)
- Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
- Mats Sander (M)
- Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
- Lili André (KD)
- Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
- Markus Kallifatides (S)
- Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
- Göran Hargestam (SD)
- Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
- Håkan Svenneling (V)
- Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
- Anders Karlsson (C)
- Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
- Linus Lakso (MP)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Maria Stockhaus (M)
- Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
- Yusuf Aydin (KD)
- Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
- Heléne Björklund (S)
- Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
- Björn Tidland (SD)
- Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
- Jacob Risberg (MP)
- Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
- Jörgen Berglund (M)
- Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
- Olle Thorell (S)
- Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
- Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
- Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
- Alexandra Anstrell (M)
- Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
TREDJE VICE TALMANNEN
I would like to welcome the ministers. Questions today will be answered by Minister for Energy and Business Ebba Busch, Minister for Defence Pål Jonson, Minister Andreas Carlson and Minister Benjamin Dousa.
A question must be of an overarching and general political nature or concern a subject that falls within the minister's area of responsibility and concerns his/her performance of duties. The question shall therefore not concern, for example, conditions within political parties. Minister for Energy and Business Ebba Busch answers both general political questions as well as questions within her own area of responsibility.
Fredrik Olovsson (S)
Madam Speaker! In the coming days, electricity prices in southern Sweden risk setting new gloomy records. It could reach levels we have not seen since December 17, 2009, during the Alliance government's time, when the price reached as much as 14 kronor.
The high prices stand in stark contrast to Ebba Busch's promises that electricity prices would become lower. Less than two months ago, the message from the Minister for Energy was also that electricity prices during the winter could now be expected to be comparatively low, this despite the government having refused to pause the new, flow-based model on the electricity market which everyone warned would raise prices - at least for Swedes.
It is obvious that Ebba Busch has made another major blunder and a misjudgment. I believe that everyone is now asking what the Minister for Energy intends to do to back down, adjust, or redo so that we do not have this situation all winter.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin by addressing those whom we exist to serve: the citizens and the households, who are now once again affected by the result of a very irresponsible energy policy. I address all those households who are partly worried today about record-high electricity prices in electricity area 3 and 4, and partly affected by the fact that it is so uncertain where the price will land. What will the electricity bill be around Christmas?
This government and the four coalition parties promised to clean up after the red-green government's electricity fiasco. That is exactly what we are doing now. There is no quick fix for the fact that they dismantled the base power that provided stable electricity prices and stable electricity production. We are now implementing 50 measures in the short and medium term up to 2030 that will ensure that more power is extracted from all the electricity that is produced. We will continue to stand on the side of the households even during this winter.
We can also note that the price is not as high now as in 2022.
Fredrik Olovsson (S)
Madam Speaker! It was actually no answer to those people who are actually worried about how this winter will be.
The only thing that has actually been added since the minister's predictions in October about low prices this winter is precisely the flow-based model, which you have refused to pause. We are now seeing the result. When does the minister intend to back down, change, or adjust that model?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! The flow-based capacity calculation mechanism that has now been introduced is, according to the responsible authority, not what means that we have sky-high prices today, for example between five o'clock and six o'clock. An electricity system was introduced in Sweden based on the idea that we would be dependent on sun and wind. The red-greens are one hundred percent responsible for having given the Swedish people this. The result is now being reaped by the Swedish people in the form of sky-high and volatile electricity prices. It is not the flow-based capacity calculation mechanism that lies behind this, but a red-green electricity policy.
Ludvig Aspling (SD)
Madam Speaker! In November, Finland's Minister for Development Ville Tavio announced that Finland is pausing all non-humanitarian aid to Somalia, this is because Somalia refuses to take back citizens that Finland is trying to deport there. The reason that Somalia works in that way is, as is known, not that they cannot receive these persons, that there would be uncertainty regarding the persons' identity or anything of the sort. It is about the fact that remittances from Somalia are a huge source of income for the country, which they naturally want to preserve.
Sweden has a total aid of 607 million kronor to Somalia for 2024. Much of the money goes to non-humanitarian interventions. Will Sweden's Minister for Development Cooperation make a corresponding decision if Somalia does not begin to cooperate on the migration issue?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the question regarding the development aid to Somalia.
We support the development in Somalia through both long-term development cooperation and humanitarian work. Just as we have had press conferences before, it is important that within the framework of, for example, the migration strategy, there are funds to support development cooperation in countries that cooperate with Sweden regarding following international law and receiving their own citizens who are not citizens of Sweden. It is something we will follow closely.
We can also note that a review of the strategy for development aid to Somalia is currently underway. We have also noted the developments in Finland and will, of course, include this in the ongoing work when we review the development aid to Somalia.
Ludvig Aspling (SD)
Madam Speaker! I thank you very much for the answer. Unlike previous governments, it is evident that this government at least intends to think in these terms, which we naturally appreciate.
However, one might ask if this should not be a rather fundamental principle to adhere to. Accepting one's own citizens is a fundamental issue within international law. Countries should do that. Should it not be a fundamental requirement to even receive Swedish aid money that one fulfills these requirements, i.e., that one accepts one's own citizens? It is not difficult. It involves no problems to do so.
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! I agree with Member of Parliament Aspling that it is important that countries that receive Swedish aid money also follow international law and cooperate with Sweden in order to receive Swedish tax money. This applies primarily to development aid.
I have several times previously said that if one cooperates with Sweden and accepts its own citizens, Sweden will cooperate in return. That is also why we are reviewing the strategy for development aid to Somalia.
Birger Lahti (V)
Madam Speaker! I have a question for the Minister for Energy and Business.
In a post on the platform X yesterday, the minister wrote about the rollercoaster of electricity prices and claimed, just as we also heard in the response to Fredrik Olovsson, that it is due to the decommissioning of Swedish nuclear power and Swedish reactors. Does the minister still maintain that statement? Is the reason that the price in southern Sweden today is 9,000 percent higher than in northern Sweden that we now have two fewer reactors puffing away there? Is the price frustration and the high prices due to the decommissioning of Swedish reactors?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! It is completely obvious to everyone who has a basic insight into how an electricity system works. If one has an electricity system that is based on having a lot of electricity when it is windy and not so much electricity when it is not windy, that is to say weather-dependent intermittent power production, and not base load in the form of hydropower and nuclear power, one gets large fluctuations in the supply of electricity, power shortages, and large fluctuations in price.
Energiforsk were very clear in a report a few years ago, together with several others who presented reports, that Sweden, if we had kept Ringhals 1 and 2, would have had 30-45 percent lower prices than the situation that prevailed then.
Birger Lahti (V)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the answer.
I interpret the minister's answer once again as that the reason for today's fluctuation and electricity that is over 9,000 percent more expensive in electricity price area 4 would be that the aforementioned reactors are not in operation and that it has nothing to do with the marginal pricing.
We also know that in Sweden we had a net import of 140 hours for the whole year and not half the year, as the minister tried to claim in our debate last week. I assert that the Swedish people should be served by honesty.
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I have never claimed that the lack of base load and politically motivated decommissioned base load in the form of nuclear power in southern Sweden would be the sole factor. There are many things that determine these price fluctuations. Among other things, Germany has unfortunately chosen the same red-green path when it comes to electricity production and has decommissioned much base load and therefore has even worse electricity prices than Sweden has. And we are to a very high degree also affected by Germany's sky-high electricity prices.
It is therefore many factors that decide, and we must absolutely be open about that.
Ulrika Heie (C)
Madam Speaker! I would like to direct my question to Minister Andreas Carlson.
An infrastructure policy proposition was submitted titled The Way to a Reliable Transport Infrastructure - so that all of Sweden can function. It is important to show the way forward. Today we know that much is going in the wrong direction. The punctuality on both road and rail is going in the wrong direction. Aviation's punctuality is going in the wrong direction. The total stoppages on our roads have also not developed in a good way.
When I meet entrepreneurs from all over Sweden, I notice that they are very focused on both transport efficiency and intermodality. I know that the Minister is committed to those issues.
The business community also says that they want to see long-term, powerful and broad agreements in this area so that all of Sweden can function. I therefore wonder how the Minister, when it comes to the path to a reliable transport infrastructure, views the possibility of ensuring that there are long-term and broad agreements.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank Ulrika Heie for the question. It is a question that we often return to, not least in the dialogue in the Committee on Transport.
We had a debate here in the chamber yesterday regarding a bill, which I believe the Riksdag will make a decision on today. I look forward to that decision very much. I also view positively the broad approach that exists here in the Riksdag to provide support for the government's work in now addressing the neglected maintenance.
What many demand is not agreements in the first instance, but that the roads hold, that one can rely on the trains and count on maritime transport and that aviation's competitiveness is strengthened. That is what is prioritized in this bill. I hope, of course, that it will receive broad support so that we can plan long-term so that we can get an infrastructure that one can rely on.
It is regarding this that we are now shifting gears in politics. We shall focus on maintenance, take care of what we have, in order to also provide room for new investments and more money for infrastructure and more infrastructure for the money.
Ulrika Heie (C)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister!
I would still like to ask one more question. When it comes to the railway, for example, we see that the capacity ceiling has been reached. What is the Minister's vision for the Swedish railway? How are we to increase the capacity? I know that trimming measures and many different things are being done. But we need to finish building the systems and create robustness against the various threats that exist ahead regarding both climate and security.
In what way does the Minister intend to develop the entire Swedish railway based on the proposition?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! The problem regarding the Swedish railway has not been the visions. There have been grand visions of fantastic projects, which in many cases have been very far in the future. The problem has been the implementation, taking hold of the problems that exist on the tracks we have.
It is there that we are now shifting gears. We are going to get more maintenance for the money and focus on achieving better functionality in the railway. This corresponds to both the expectations of the business community and the citizens; one must be able to rely on the train. That is what we are working on now.
Nils Seye Larsen (MP)
Madam Speaker! I have a question for Minister Andreas Carlson.
It cannot be overemphasized how important the Norrbotniabanan is for the development and future prospects of Västerbotten and Norrbotten. It links our coastal municipalities into a labor market region, which is crucial for meeting the skills challenges we have in northern Sweden. It is a prerequisite for being able to meet our regional business's needs for freight flows and for the green industrial investments in the north. It is also important for the climate transition and is part of the EU's core network corridor.
When can we expect a construction start decision from the government? And when will the government secure the funding for the Norrbotniabanan?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank Nils Seye Larsen for the question.
The question consists of two parts. The first concerns the financing. The Norrbotniabanan, with the three sections and measures that the member refers to, is in the national plan. One problem has been that it is not fully financed in the current national plan. The government will have to return to this now that we are proceeding with the work on the revision of the national plan. As I touched upon in my previous answer, we have made historically large investments in infrastructure. We will, therefore, have to return to that.
When it comes to the construction start decision, we will also return to it. I look forward to that. It is, just as the member points out, an important stretch for work commuting and freight traffic. It is important that a decision is reached. And it will be, but I have no information today as to when.
Nils Seye Larsen (MP)
Madam Speaker! Sweden has committed to working to ensure that the Norrbotniabanan, which is part of the EU's core network corridor, is completed by the target year 2030. A year ago, the plans for the section from Dåva to Skellefteå became legally binding. Everything is therefore ready to begin building the track all the way to Skellefteå.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I will return with an announcement regarding the start of construction when we have an announcement to give. An important announcement was when the government made the decision for the plans for that section should become legally binding.
We will return with a decision on the construction start decision when we have made it. It is different trade-offs and interests that, of course, must be handled in a serious and reasonable manner. But it also needs to happen efficiently and quickly. I look forward to returning with that.
Helena Storckenfeldt (M)
Madam Speaker! Sweden has the lowest emissions in the EU per capita. There are many good examples of Swedish entrepreneurship that provide great global benefit for the climate. Swedish companies are world leaders in emission-reduction technology, and the export of this is crucial to succeeding with the green transition.
Today, the global climate benefit of Swedish exports corresponds to approximately half of the total emissions generated in Sweden. It is a figure that, with the right conditions, can be doubled as early as 2040.
My question to the Minister for Development Cooperation is: How is the government working to increase Swedish companies' competitiveness and influence when it comes to reduced emissions internationally? And what does the Minister consider Sweden's role to be in the global transition?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! It is exactly as Member of Parliament Storckenfeldt says. Swedish business is truly at the forefront of the green transition. Choose a Swedish company in this industry and you will see that it is often world-leading in the field.
Furthermore, Swedish climate aid makes a big difference. As a Moderate, it feels extra good that we make a difference in as effective a way as possible so that CO2 emissions are truly reduced with the resources we provide. What one votes for therefore makes a big difference.
Since the government took office, Swedish climate aid has been prioritized with 800 million kronor. This goes, among other things, to the large global climate funds and Swedfund, which in a very good way weaves together our aid work with the trade-promoting work. This is important for Sweden, but it is also important for the climate that we reduce emissions.
Helena Storckenfeldt (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for Development Aid for the answer.
At the top of the agenda during COP 29 was to set a new goal for climate financing. The outcome of this was an annual financing of 300 billion dollars per year, which shall come from both the public and the private sector. Just as the Minister for Development Cooperation did, I would in this context like to highlight the quality of climate aid. Even though the amount itself is important, it is nevertheless the results that play the biggest role. The money must go to the right measures at the right time.
How does the minister guarantee that Swedish tax funds are going to the right things?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! That the aid is conveyed in an effective way so that we can see results is one of the government's most important priorities. It must also be transparent so that Members of Parliament, I as a Minister, and the Swedish people can see where the money goes.
We know that climate aid actually goes towards effective measures that can partially rebuild the local ecosystem in poorer countries, and it also contributes to reduced CO2 emissions.
Magnus Jacobsson (KD)
Madam Speaker! We have silence in large parts of the Nordics and Germany, which causes wind power to stand still. This, in combination with previous governments' premature decommissioning of nuclear power, means that companies and individual households are affected by high electricity prices.
What is the government doing to get the dysfunctional electricity system, which we have inherited from previous governments, in order?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I welcome the question.
We have a rollercoaster of electricity prices that is completely horrible. First and foremost, we have a situation that makes it cost more than 8 kronor per kilowatt-hour between 17:00 and 18:00 today. Many other hours we have extremely low prices, even negative prices. Everything is totally weather-dependent in combination with great vulnerability to other countries' electricity prices.
This is a result of, among other things, decommissioned base load. When it is not windy, we get high electricity prices due to the failed system. In Germany, they have prices of around 10 kronor per kilowatt-hour.
We have 50 measures that will have an effect as early as this winter with a view towards 2030. The government is therefore doing much more than just paving the way for nuclear power and more wind power. We safeguard hydropower, and we will continue the dialogue with the wind power companies to achieve more measures together with them in the short term.
Magnus Jacobsson (KD)
Madam Speaker! We Christian Democrats have been arguing here in the chamber about small-scale hydropower and that, with the right conditions, it can increase its production, which in the short term can increase the power output corresponding to a nuclear power plant where the needs are greatest.
What is the government doing to facilitate small-scale hydropower, particularly in southern Sweden?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank Magnus Jacobsson for the question. I also thank the member and others in the chamber for badgering about hydropower.
Hydropower in Sweden is one of the most beautiful and important things we have. It is fossil-free, and it has the highest capacity factor of all types of power. Even small amounts of hydropower are indispensable in order to be able to move a lot of electricity between different areas. This we shall, of course, safeguard.
Helena Gellerman (L)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister Andreas Carlson.
Yesterday, the Committee on Transport debated the infrastructure bill. Sweden's transport system shall facilitate people's work commutes and companies' freight transport, but it is also the key to reducing climate emissions and ensuring that we can stand ready in crisis and war.
There are many urgent infrastructure needs, and the money must suffice for a great deal. Therefore, the lack of cost control at Trafikverket, which the Riksrevisionen has highlighted in nine reports, is very concerning.
What are the most important measures, according to the Minister, for Trafikverket to regain control over the costs in the agency and in all the projects they have?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for a very pertinent question, Helena Gellerman. This is one of the core parts of the infrastructure bill. It is about more money for infrastructure but just as much about more infrastructure for the money. The taxpayers' money shall go to what it is intended for. Then cost control, budget discipline and transparency are, of course, very important parts.
Trafikverket has different assignments from the government to strengthen this work. The work is reinforced in connection with the infrastructure bill. Trafikverket has also taken its own measures to review its own organization so that it strengthens its commissioning competence, procurement capability, and operational capability, which is in line with several of the government assignments that the agency has.
They have already identified measures that can be taken to streamline the organization. The Government is therefore moving money from next year's budget, corresponding to 300 million, from administration to other reinforcements within maintenance and roads. This is an important part of the cost control work that is ongoing.
Helena Gellerman (L)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
Today we are to make a decision on the infrastructure bill. It stands at 1,171 billion, which is a large sum. It is therefore extremely important that we get out as much infrastructure as possible for the money.
My question is perhaps more general: What does the timeline look like moving forward until we have received an infrastructure plan, and what should people do to get in the infrastructure projects they are passionate about?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! It is a question that many Members of Parliament also, of course, want answers to. The answer is that once we have received the Riksdag's decision, the government will give Trafikverket a mandate to prepare proposals for a national plan.
Parallel to this, we will also appoint an OPS investigator. We will open up and actively test alternative operating models so that we can obtain a benchmarking against Trafikverket, but also so that we can get more infrastructure projects in place. There will, of course, be many opportunities to provide input in the process.
Monica Haider (S)
Madam Speaker! On Monday, Ebba Busch and I were supposed to have an interpellation debate, but the Minister cancelled it. Therefore, I am posing my question here today instead.
Electricity prices in Sweden are unacceptably different depending on which electricity price area one lives in. In electricity price area 4, where I live, electricity is significantly more expensive than in electricity price areas 1 and 2. For example, the average spot price today is 5 öre per kilowatt-hour in electricity price areas 1 and 2, while it costs a full 5 kronor per kilowatt-hour and later this evening 8 kronor in electricity price area 4.
The flow-based capacity model, which functions as a smart traffic system for electricity, was intended according to the plans to contribute to lower prices in electricity price area 4, but with today's prices we see something else.
Is the minister prepared to act now to reduce the large unfair differences in electricity prices between the different areas and pause the new model? What proposals exist to bring down electricity prices?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I thank the member for the question. I regret that we do not have more minutes to debate this.
I think it is important to know what we base our proposed solutions on. I do not have the courage to say that it is the flow-based capacity calculation model that provides these prices. So far as we have been able to evaluate this, the electricity prices were, on the contrary, lower during November than the comparable period last year when we did not have this model.
This is an EU-regulated decision. It was first negotiated during the Alliance years and then during the red-green government. It was decided during a red-green government. This is nothing we can choose not to do.
On the contrary, there is something that suggests we have a large use of our ability to transfer electricity from northern Sweden, where it is blowing right now, to southern Sweden, where it is not blowing. It is other factors, such as a weather-dependent electricity production, which unfortunately are the reason for the sky-high price in southern Sweden today.
Angelika Bengtsson (SD)
Madam Speaker! The developments in Syria are remarkable. The Iranian- and Russian-supported regime under the dictator Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown in a very short time, and there are many speculations about what the future looks like. Already, many exiled Syrians around the world have expressed joy over the fall of the regime and an interest in returning to assist in the reconstruction of the country.
With the reservation that it is at a very early stage and that at the moment it is difficult to oversee the future and assess lasting stability, the Sweden Democrats see an opportunity to prepare us to promote the return of Syrians who have received temporary protection in Sweden.
In this work, both the connection between the aid and the commitment to return, and the possibilities of the aid itself, are elementary.
How does Minister Dousa and the government want to work to strengthen the synergies between aid policy and reconstruction efforts while ensuring that the aid goes to areas that support a safe and organized return?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! It is true that one of the worst regimes on the entire globe has fallen, a regime that has used chemical weapons against its own population and which has imprisoned political refugees without due process. It is also true that many in Sweden currently feel relieved that the Assad regime has fallen.
I think it is a bit too early for us from the Swedish side to raise the question of return. We simply know too little about what the new government will look like. From the Swedish side, we of course want to contribute in every way to Syria becoming a country at peace with democracy. We are also prepared to use aid funds to try to help in that direction. During the last week, we have communicated new support to Syria which will go to, among other things, health clinics in the country. Fighting is still ongoing. But this is an issue that the government is following closely.
Hanna Gunnarsson (V)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to the Minister for Defence.
Total defense is a whole. Both a military and a civil defense are needed. Our security also requires the protection of the environment and nature. Nature provides us with various life-essential things such as drinking water, food, and farmland. One could say that every little pollinating bee is a part of total defense.
Now we have been informed that the Armed Forces, FMV, and Fortifikationsverket are going to simplify their environmental processes, i.e., those processes that protect nature and the environment and thus, ultimately, ourselves. This means that environmental matters will not be subject to permit testing, which means that external expertise will disappear from the process. This is extra serious when it concerns the defense, which is sometimes a rather dirty operation.
How does the Minister for Defence view the major risks that this could entail for nature and the environment, drinking water and farmland?
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank Hanna Gunnarsson for the question.
This has to do with the fact that we are in the most serious security policy global situation since the end of the Second World War. It is urgent to build up the total defense. Just as Hanna Gunnarsson says, it includes both the civil and the military defense. They are two sides of the same coin.
What we have now proposed is that the Armed Forces should have a notification requirement rather than a permit requirement. This can reduce lead times by six to twelve weeks. It would be very important in order to be able to achieve much faster growth in the entire total defense. The Armed Forces say that it is one of the things that slows down the pace in terms of military growth. It could be a question of procurement legislation, it could be security protection legislation, and it could be environmental legislation.
The government is also very clear in the national security strategy that national security is the most important responsibility we have. Then we must do everything we can to promote a military capability development in a serious security policy global situation.
Christofer Bergenblock (C)
Madam Speaker! Even in Halland, we are severely affected by yesterday's and today's sky-high electricity prices. It is, of course, completely insane that the government has not taken a holistic approach to the energy issue but instead fixed itself completely on nuclear power in ten to fifteen years. Is the idea that we are to have these prices all the way until the end of the 2030s during our winters?
Instead of lowering the tax on electricity, the government has increased the tax for two years in a row, and now the money is flowing into the state treasury. Instead of accelerating the expansion of new energy, the government has put up obstacles for new offshore wind power.
My two questions to the Minister for Energy are the following:
Will the government now take the initiative to lower the tax on electricity for consumers? And will the government take the initiative to remove the obstacles that have been so effectively built up regarding the establishment of new offshore wind power?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! I wonder a little bit where Christofer Bergenblock has been during the last two years.
First and foremost, I must say that it is astonishing how one, as a member of the Centre Party, who was involved and contributed to the decommissioning of both Barsebäck and Ringhals, has the nerve to complain today when the Swedish people are paying sky-high electricity prices because one has made ourselves dependent on wind and weather. And now we are dependent on wind and weather. This was what the Centre Party desired, and this is what you have given the Swedish people. Now I am cleaning up.
Furthermore, we are now taking all the measures that the Green Party, the Social Democrats, and the Centre Party together failed to manage to do for wind power. Incentives are being created so that at a local level people will say yes through a returned property tax to those municipalities that say yes to wind power.
We are leaving the open-door system that has resulted in millions being spent on offshore wind power projects that one never had the opportunity to say yes to, and [we are creating] clarity and incentives for the construction of offshore and onshore wind power. The wealthy Center Party did not manage that.
Katarina Luhr (MP)
Madam Speaker! PFAS are toxic substances that are currently leaking into our waters from sites where fire drills have been conducted for a long time, for example from the Armed Forces' fire drill sites at various airfields in Sweden.
Around F 17 in Kallinge live many who have been poisoned and who a few weeks ago received notice that they will not receive any compensation from the Armed Forces, which means that the costs are being passed back to the residents of Kallinge and their municipal water company.
In Uppsala, residents around F 16 were warned last week against drinking water from their wells since high PFAS levels have been measured in the drinking water. It is now recommended that the residents purchase bottled water and send the bill to Försvarsmakten.
The Armed Forces is responsible for a number of sites with high PFAS levels, where PFAS risks contaminating the drinking water for many more. It is important that the government and the Armed Forces act urgently to prevent this.
I want to ask Defense Minister Pål Jonson what he thinks about the polluter pays principle.
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! This is a matter that concerns the Armed Forces and Kallinge municipality. The government should not and cannot intervene there.
The issue linked to PFAS is also broader than just concerning the Armed Forces. The Armed Forces is a very small part of this. That being said, the Armed Forces has carried out a number of remediations and also paid out compensation in other areas of the country.
The Armed Forces are also working to reduce PFAS dependency. This has been done, for example, within the rescue services that are active within the Air Force.
The Armed Forces are, therefore, actively working on this. But I, as a government minister, shall not intervene in a matter that lies between Kallinge municipality and the Armed Forces and which is, as such, an ongoing process.
Mats Sander (M)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to Defense Minister Pål Jonson. I would like to begin by thanking him and his colleagues for the work they do to make Sweden safer and more secure, and wish them a Merry Christmas.
Madam Speaker! Some time ago, the Minister signed a letter of intent together with the Nordic defense ministers. It concerned the establishment of military transport corridors through Denmark, including the Öresund area. It is a strategic passage for military transports within Nato.
In the current situation, there is only one fixed connection across the Öresund. This limits the transport capacity and also implies a lack of redundancy.
I wonder how the Minister views this from a defense and security perspective.
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank Mats Sander for an important question, which concerns what is called military mobility. It is important that there is good military mobility and the ability to transport military resources across borders, not least in order to make NATO's Article 5 credible.
What we did, with reference to the letter of intent that Mats Sander mentions, was that we broadened the circle. It was originally intended that Sweden, Norway and Finland should be included, but we also saw a need to deepen the cooperation with Denmark. We also have a very good and effective bilateral cooperation with Denmark, I want to emphasize.
One of the measures taken during the last half-year is that Trafikverket has conducted a study of railway connections and mobility between Sweden and Denmark. I know that that investigation has been submitted to the Ministry of Rural Affairs and Infrastructure. A number of works are ongoing between Sweden and Denmark to strengthen the infrastructure from a total defense perspective.
Lili André (KD)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister Benjamin Dousa.
Sweden and the EU face a major challenge with the increased import of cheap parcels from China. Large quantities of goods are purchased by consumers via platform companies such as Temu and Shein. These parcels often contain products that do not meet European safety requirements, which can pose risks to consumers. For example, toys may contain dangerous chemicals, and electrical products can be fire hazards. The Chinese platform companies have found loopholes in the customs system, which distorts competition and threatens Swedish jobs and the Swedish economy.
My question to the Minister is as follows: Does the Minister plan to take measures to ensure that products imported via platform companies from China meet the EU's safety requirements and protect Swedish jobs and Swedish competitiveness?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! This is definitely an issue that the government is acting on together with the EU circle. It is exactly as the Member of Parliament says, and this is something that, not least Svensk Handel has pointed out. There are certain individual products that are directly dangerous for Swedish consumers. One should be just as secure when ordering something online as when buying it in a physical store.
But it is important that we act within the framework of the EU. Otherwise, there is a risk that one simply bypasses the regulatory framework, brings the products into another EU country and then forwards them to Sweden. This is something that many EU countries are very engaged in. Sweden is definitely at the forefront in ensuring that we plug these holes, so that Swedish consumers can feel safe, not least ahead of the Christmas trade.
Markus Kallifatides (S)
Madam Speaker! For over two years, we Social Democrats have demanded urgent measures to support housing construction, stop the bleeding, and keep construction workers in work. The SD-controlled government's opposition to state interventions in the area has, however, been great, and in both the budget bill and the Committee on Civil Affairs' report, they provide directly misleading information regarding previous investment support. But Housing Minister Andreas Carlson has, in the budget bill for 2025, despite this deep opposition, actually signaled some state support for housing construction, albeit only in northern Sweden.
My question to Housing Minister Carlson is: When will the information be provided on how these supports are actually designed?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! The KD-led work in the government in this area involves so many measures that I would not have been able to go into all of them even if I had used my entire speaking time for it; it would have been just over one measure per second. The member knows this, because I accounted for it at a meeting in the Committee on Civil Affairs quite recently. The government is taking many measures to achieve a significantly better functioning housing market, making land available, shortening lead times, simplifying regulations, and enabling more people to cross the threshold to a home.
Regarding the support for housing construction in the north, the construction will be much more accurate than for the previous investment supports, which had a lack of effect, even according to Hyresgästföreningens own evaluation. We will return with the exact design. But the total 1.5 billion that is involved and which will facilitate housing construction in the north is very welcome.
Göran Hargestam (SD)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to the Minister for Defence.
The Swedish Armed Forces' personnel supply has been debated extensively in recent years. There has been knowledge that the system with part-time and continuously employed personnel will become challenging in the long run. This applies particularly to the issue of retaining personnel in the long term.
In the ongoing investigation regarding personnel supply, the investigator shall present cost-effective solutions regarding early contract terminations. If by "cost-effective solutions" one means solutions that cost less than the cost of fully trained personnel who leave prematurely, one is on the right track. Many Natoländer have, for example, incentive structures built on subsidies for healthcare, transport, housing, etc. There is, however, a risk that with "cost-effective solutions" one ends up with proposals that lower the level of ambition regarding staff benefits and wages. Such proposals will have the opposite effect.
Can the Government explain its view on a more creative solution to attract and retain staff?
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank Göran Hargestam for an important question. There is no question that is so central to achieving growth as that of the Armed Forces' personnel. This was also the intention in letting the former Chief of the Home Guard, Roland Ekenberg, investigate how we can increase the availability of the Armed Forces' personnel. It concerns everything from contract employees and occasional service members to reserve officers and conscript personnel. There are a number of measures in this report that I truly look forward to.
When it comes to terminated contracts, we look a lot at those who are continuously employed. We see that they sometimes leave after two or three years. If it means that they then move on to study to become a specialist officer or reserve officer, it does not cause that much damage. If they, however, leave the Armed Forces to seek a civilian career, it creates problems for the Armed Forces' growth.
I assess that Roland Ekenberg is on the completely right track and safeguards the Defence Forces' operational capability.
Håkan Svenneling (V)
Madam Speaker! This weekend, Bashar al-Assad's many-year dictatorship in Syria fell. When demands for democracy and human rights were made, he met them with violence and war. Now we must increase aid to Syria, as the situation in Syria is still very uncertain. HTS, a jihadist group supported by Turkey, has taken power. There is great concern that HTS rule will mean Sharia laws and repression against minorities. At the same time, Turkey-supported terror groups are attacking the Kurdish-Arab areas in northeastern Syria called Rojava.
Another actor that has awakened is IS. Their terror cells have awakened, with the goal of freeing IS fighters who are in prison in Rojava. Sweden and the rest of the world have supported the Kurdish-led SDF militarily in defeating IS through the global coalition against Daish/IS.
Does the Minister for Defence intend to work towards reactivating the global coalition against IS in order to create peace for the Syrian people?
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! The global coalition against Daesh is actually still active. We had a meeting linked to it before NATO's defense ministers' meeting in the autumn. Coordination is taking place between a number of countries. On the other hand, the level of activity has naturally decreased, as the problem with jihadists subsided earlier. The coordination activity exists, not least through American coordination. Sweden has contributed to it in various forms with both staff officers and intelligence exchange.
Anders Karlsson (C)
Madam Speaker! Yesterday, Minister Andreas Carlson participated in the debate on the infrastructure bill, which we will make a decision on this afternoon. It is a good bill that will provide increased capacity in many types of transport. But we have an acute concern regarding the large service need on the railway. Yesterday, the Minister described that Trafikverket cannot accept more money regarding railway service because they do not have the resources needed. Now I come from Nässjö municipality with 30 railway-related companies. That is not their view.
My question is: How does the Minister intend to handle this with Trafikverket so that we get an organization that can manage a service in a better way?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! It is a very pressing issue. It is not new to me in any way. The Government has already for quite some time now tasked Trafikverket with strengthening its procurement competence, operational capacity, and cooperation with all maintenance contractors who have new ways of working. They are not that new. It is just that they have not yet been fully utilized in Sweden.
It is a way of working that takes into account making it more efficient and innovative and affecting traffic as little as possible. There have been proposals here since earlier that the previous government put in the drawer. Now we are picking them up again.
Work has been ongoing in what we call the punctuality mission, which aims to strengthen the robustness, reliability, and dependability of railway traffic. It is very much about providing good conditions and procuring in the right way so that one gets more money for maintenance, but also more maintenance for the money.
Linus Lakso (MP)
Madam Speaker! We have extremely high electricity prices at the present time. It is, of course, a consequence of the government's culture war against cheap renewable electricity.
KD stops approximately 75 percent of onshore wind power through the municipal veto. They recently stopped 140 terawatt-hours of offshore wind power. They worsen the situation for solar power by removing the 60-kronor and reducing the green deduction.
Above all, all previous existing support for energy efficiency has been removed. These are things that could provide cheaper electricity here and now and lower electricity prices.
Furthermore, there has been incredibly poor timing with the introduction of the flow-based measurements, which has further increased electricity prices. We know that lying about who shut down the nuclear power does not lead to lower electricity prices.
My question to Ebba Busch is: Is it reasonable to have electricity prices as high as they are, or should we investigate an electricity price cap?
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! We begin with facts again. In the last ten years, there has been 13,000 megawatts more electricity production in the system. These are enormous amounts. It is as much electricity as ten nuclear reactors could produce.
It is just that it is not nuclear power or hydropower that has entered the system, but it is wind power. It is 13,000 megawatts. How much is available to consume? It is 340 megawatts. That is Sweden's big problem. We do not have an electricity shortage. We have a capacity shortage.
I think it is completely absurd that Miljöpartiet, which has desired an electricity system that is dependent on it being windy, is now shocked that we do not have electricity when it is windy. You reap what you sow.
This is what we are cleaning up. Now we are harvesting technology neutrality. We are paving the way for wind power, nuclear power and hydropower, but all of it in a way that yields results for the Swedish people.
Maria Stockhaus (M)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to the Minister for Infrastructure.
In Norway and Denmark, domestic flights have recovered after the pandemic, but that is not the case in Sweden. This has caused major problems for domestic flights. In the long run, it risks the accessibility in the entire country.
My question is: What measures is the government taking to strengthen the conditions for domestic aviation?
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I share Maria Stockhaus's view of the situation. It is serious, not least for the aviation sector which is vital for society. It is important for the needs of the business community and for being able to travel and visit loved ones who may live in another part of our elongated country.
Therefore, the government is taking a number of measures. The aviation tax is being removed. We have more than doubled the support for the regional airports. We have added 1 billion to handle a covid debt, one could say, for aviation's baggage and security costs.
Furthermore, we have initiated work to strengthen the competitiveness of aviation. This also includes that the Government Offices have reviewed our travel policy so that it is travel-mode neutral.
I want to encourage more people to do it and not to penalize aviation in advance without evaluating each mode of transport in the same way and to have transport-mode-neutral, transport-mode-wide travel policies that do not penalize one of the important modes of transport in Sweden in advance.
Yusuf Aydin (KD)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister Benjamin Dousa.
The fall of dictator Assad's brutal regime awakens hope for a better and more democratic future for Syria. But it also awakens great concern and uncertainty about what happens next, especially under the leadership of the Islamist HTS and other rebel groups, regarding the consequences for the country's Christians and other minorities.
As a result of the civil war and IS's ravages, Syria's Christian population has decreased by nearly 80 percent, from approximately 1.5 million to 300,000 over the last twelve years. To stop this development, active measures and targeted support are required.
My question to the Minister is therefore: Does the Minister intend to support Syria's Christian population and other minorities and also convey part of the aid through churches and other local organizations?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! It is exactly as Member of Parliament Aydin says. The situation in Syria has been hopeless. Now, perhaps, it will hopefully become something more hopeful. There is hopefully also a light in this very dark tunnel. For over a decade, there has been a brutal civil war in Syria.
The Swedish support is based on several different parts. In part, we are large core support donors to organizations that are on site and which also have humanitarian access. We have extensive humanitarian support of over 200 million kronor to Syria.
Most recently this week, we published another support to Syria which will go, among other things, to health clinics but also to help political prisoners be reunited with their families.
We definitely do not rule out seeking help from Christian organizations. According to the CSO strategy, which we have spoken about many times, there is room to also act in Syria.
Heléne Björklund (S)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister of Defence Pål Jonsson.
We have earlier today debated our Swedish contribution to next year's Nato mission. I expect that in a short while we will also decide on it.
My question concerns the flight squadron in Ronneby, F 17. Are any additional agreements or decisions required for them to be able to begin the air policing operation?
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! No, not fundamentally. Already today, one can from Ronneby carry out air policing over, for example, the Baltic Sea.
What will be new, if the Riksdag votes for the proposal in the report, is, for example, that a rote that is currently located in Ronneby can be placed somewhere else in the surrounding area.
Then one can also have the opportunity to conduct air policing over, for example, Germany, Poland or the Baltic countries. It becomes another step in the deepening of the defense cooperation. It is important for the entirety of NATO's capability for deterrence and defense.
The answer to Heléne Björklund is that no new measures linked to the operations at the flotilla in Ronneby will be required. There is now also an opportunity to forward-deploy, for example, the Jas Gripen in other countries through this decision.
Björn Tidland (SD)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister of Defence Pål Jonsson.
Once upon a time, Sweden had a coastal artillery. There were five regiments from Härnösand in the north to Karlskrona in the south. Back then, there was a real threat. It came from the other side of the Baltic Sea.
After the Cold War, a number of defense decisions were made aimed at reducing the defense from invasion defense to adaptation defense. As a result of these decisions, the days of the coastal artillery were numbered.
Through the defense decision 2000, the coastal artillery was phased out in its current form, and the remaining units were to receive a different orientation than until then.
Now the threat from the east is even more serious than during the Cold War. Sweden must once again transition to invasion defense, and in that, it is necessary with a functioning coastal artillery. Both fixed units and mobile support battalions must be established as soon as possible and become operational.
I now come to the question itself: Does the Minister for Defence consider that Sweden is in need of a coastal artillery to protect the country from an invasion across the sea by a hostile nation?
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! The answer to the question is no. The Armed Forces do not consider it so, and neither does a unanimous defense committee.
With that said, there are measures in the upcoming total defense decision that also strengthen the coastal defense. This includes, among other things, investments in long-range capability, including coastal robot units with better range. Alongside that, significant investments are being made in the amphibious battalions in the upcoming defense decision.
Measures are therefore being taken to strengthen the protection of coastal areas, but there are no plans to re-establish the coastal artillery as such.
Jacob Risberg (MP)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister for Energy and Business Busch. The last time I asked a question to the Minister, she thought I was both unpleasant and ignorant, so today I shall try to maintain a friendlier tone.
In Ekots' radio interview on Saturday in August, the Minister stated that we are expected to pay 8 billion in costs this year to downregulate and balance out the wind power, which comes and goes as it pleases.
Therefore, I ask in the kindest way: Does the Minister really mean that all these 8 billion depend on wind power? Is it not the case that more than half of these 8 billion are costs to manage rapid shutdowns in nuclear power as well as sudden stops in lines to neighboring countries? And should the producers themselves not pay for the margins required to manage rapid shutdowns in these reactors? The cost for them is hundreds of millions per rapid shutdown. Should these costs really end up on our electricity grid bills? Thank you in advance, Minister!
Energi- och näringsministern Ebba Busch (KD)
Madam Speaker! It was both pleasant and informative. Thank you, dear Jacob Risberg, for this!
What is perfectly clear is that the cost increases significantly when nuclear power decreases in the system. It is also perfectly clear that Sweden pays very much for various types of compensatory measures in order to be able to downregulate and balance the imbalance we have in electricity production. It is therefore not only wind power that these 8 billion are about, and I thank you for the opportunity to clarify this.
One can go home and look at the electricity bill to see how much one pays for electricity versus how much one pays for the electricity grid. Many Swedes will then see that the cost for the electricity grid has risen sharply. This is, among other things, a consequence of the fact that an intermittent power production also requires much more electricity grid. There are many factors that determine the costs.
Jörgen Berglund (M)
Madam Speaker! The Government has recently adopted a so-called Indo-Pacific strategy, and the Minister for Defence has traveled to the region on repeated occasions. Agreements and other things have been signed.
At the same time, both uncertainty and war prevail in our immediate vicinity, in Europe. I would therefore like to ask the Minister for Defence: Why is it so important to engage in the Indo-Pacific region?
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Jörgen Berglund, for the question!
It is important because of the obvious fact that there is a connection between the Indo-Pacific region and the Euro-Atlantic region after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Those who hesitate regarding this can note that there are, at least in the Kursk region, North Korean soldiers. It demonstrates the connection between the two regions.
We are clear that the primary threats to the Armed Forces are located in the immediate vicinity. But we are also dependent on the developments in the Indo-Pacific region, and that has to do with the fact that Sweden is a trade-dependent and export-dependent country. The link between the two regions is becoming increasingly obvious. Sweden has, just like for example Lithuania, the Netherlands, Germany and France, established Indo-Pacific strategies.
This is also linked to the fact that Nato has partnerships with four countries in the Indo-Pacific region with which it has deepened contact, namely Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.
Olle Thorell (S)
Madam Speaker! My question is directed to Benjamin Dousa.
The world faces devastating humanitarian catastrophes and crises. In Sudan, 30 million people, two-thirds of the population, are in desperate need of help. More than 6 million people are starving, and thousands of children risk dying from malnutrition. The distress grows hour by hour, and millions have been forced to leave their homes. In Myanmar and Gaza, fearsome humanitarian catastrophes are occurring simultaneously, where people are fighting for their lives against violence, starvation, and displacement.
At the same time, Sweden chooses to cut back on aid. Within a couple of years, we will not even reach 0.7 percent of GNI, which is the UN's recommendation.
How can the State Council and the government, against this background, convince other countries to take steps forward when we take steps backward?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the question, Olle Thorell - it is extra pleasing to be able to discuss these issues in my own physical person!
Just as Olle Thorell says, there are currently many areas around the world that truly need Swedish tax money. But the Swedish state budget is finite. For some of the areas mentioned, we have increased the humanitarian aid. This applies to Sudan, and to Gaza we have increased the aid by over half a billion kronor over the last year.
Just the humanitarian area is particularly prioritized from the government's side so that we can ensure that civilian people who perhaps do not get a roof over their heads and who perhaps do not even get food on the table can survive everyday life.
But the Swedish state budget is, as said, finite, and we must hold the money tightly and prioritize. We believe that we can get more aid money by prioritizing and holding them tightly and by watering where it grows, where we know that the aid actually makes a difference.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! My question is addressed to Minister for Development Cooperation Benjamin Dousa.
One of the Palestinian organizations that receives aid from Sida is NGO Development Center. The organization, in turn, distributes aid money to several Palestinian organizations, many of which have not closed the door to cooperation with terrorists.
Furthermore, the organizations behind NGO Development Center use a rhetoric that is anything but peaceful and which calls for a boycott of the state of Israel. In addition to this, strategy documents on NGO Development Center's website contain representations where a boycott of Israel, or BDS, is presented as a legitimate purpose for aid organizations.
Does the Minister for Foreign Affairs consider it appropriate that Swedish aid funds continue to be paid out to organizations that call for a boycott of Israel?
Statsrådet Benjamin Dousa (M)
Madam Speaker! Let me be very clear about one thing: Not a single tax crown shall go towards financing terrorism or extremism. This applies regardless of which location on the globe Swedish aid funds are directed to. This is something that has also been clarified in many of the strategies we have presented, and it is something that has been clarified in the government's reform agenda for aid.
Regarding the specific organization, it is Sida that follows the strategies and the reform agenda that the government has put forward. There is a certain nuance between having a policy where one holds certain views and actively financing Hamas or other types of terrorist organizations.
This is definitely something that we are following very closely. I urge the Member of Parliament to contact Sida and make visible the work that he has identified. But from the government's side, it is crystal clear: Not a single tax krona shall go towards financing either terrorism or extremism.
Alexandra Anstrell (M)
Madam Speaker! Yesterday, I spoke in the place of Free Ukraine about the importance of that we, of course, shall continue to support Ukraine moving forward. My question therefore goes to Minister of Defence Pål Jonson.
We have done quite a lot for Ukraine. The other day we also found out that CV90 combat vehicles will be sent directly to Ukraine via our defense industry.
What can we expect for support for Ukraine moving forward, specifically together with our defense industry?
Försvarsministern Pål Jonson (M)
Madam Speaker! I thank Alexandra Anstrell for the question.
What we need to do with the support for Ukraine is to move from donation to production. We will now, to an increasing extent, jointly with other countries procure defense materiel from our defense industry, because we are starting to run low in our own stocks.
Sweden has an unusually strong defense industry. Consequently, we also have better conditions to support Ukraine. Let me give an example of that.
Sweden, Norway and Denmark have jointly procured artillery ammunition that we can donate to Ukraine, but which we can also replenish in our own stocks. The point with doing it jointly is that by placing a larger order we can push down the prices. Then we can also make long-term orders to defense companies, so that they dare to invest in their production capacity.
The big problem today is that we have a defense industry in Europe that is shaped for peacetime conditions while war is prevailing in Europe. But through joint procurement, we can send signals to the defense industry so that they dare to build out and expand their production capacity.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.