Nordic-Baltic region needs common air defence shield, Sweden's ruling Moderates party says

Sweden's ruling Moderates party will ​work to build a ​Nordic-Baltic air defence ‌shield if the ​right-wing coalition government wins re-election next month, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said on ‌Wednesday. Sweden in 2024 joined the NATO military alliance as Russia's invasion of Ukraine two years earlier forced the Nordic country to rethink its ‌national security policy, and is ramping up defence spending along with ‌other European nations.

"We need to tie together our different air defence systems to enable rapid target identification and to combat threats more effectively," Stenergard told ⁠reporters ​at a joint ⁠press conference with her Latvian counterpart Baiba Braze. She said that comprehensive protection throughout ⁠the region required several air defence systems to work together to share sensor ​data in order to detect and counter ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, ⁠drones, and other threats.

"This is crucial for our common security," Stenergard said. She ⁠added ​that the work would develop gradually but declined to specify when a joint shield might be up and running.

The ⁠Moderates party heads a minority government coalition that is lagging the centre-left ⁠opposition bloc ⁠in opinion polls ahead of the September 13 election for parliament.