Peter Hultqvist participated in a ministerial meeting within the Joint Expeditionary Force

The annual ministerial meeting of the World Economic Forum brought together the defense ministers of the ten participating countries for discussions initially related to the evolution of the security situation in Europe.

– Over time, we have seen a deterioration in the security situation in our immediate area. We mentioned that threats to the European security system are unacceptable, says Peter Hultqvist.

The ministerial meeting also discussed JEF-NATO cooperation, planning JEF activities over the next two years, including scenario-based discussions where representatives of JEF member states encounter various events and discussing how to deal with them. The two defense ministers also decided to conduct joint exercises at the JEF during the coming months, in light of the developments in the security situation.

– JEF is a priority cooperation for Sweden. It contributes, like other forms of international defense cooperation in which we participate, to raising Sweden’s national defense capacity and the ability to work with others in the event of a crisis, says Peter Holtqvist.

JEF is the framework for a UK-led rapid reaction force. The JEF must be able to act independently or as part of a UN, NATO or EU operation in the event of a crisis, with a focus on Northern Europe. In addition to the United Kingdom and Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Iceland are members of the JEF.