Swedish politicians and defence experts say the country should consider building its own nuclear weapons to deter Russia, as recent drone and airspace incidents raise security fears across Europe.
Right-wing and centre-right figures have pushed the idea into the public debate.
Jimmie Akesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats, told newspaper Goteborgs-Posten: ‘[Sweden] had a lot of expertise in nuclear technology a long time ago.
‘But the political will wanted something different. I think everything should be on the table in this situation.’
His sentiments were echoed by Robert Dalsjo, a researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Agency. He said at a seminar: ‘Now we must discuss independent nuclear weapons with a Swedish component.’
The comments come as European governments report a rise in hostile drone activity and airspace violations that officials link to Vladimir Putin.
Danish authorities closed parts of Copenhagen Airport after repeated drone sightings over its airspace last week.
Denmark has said the incidents may be part of a coordinated ‘hybrid attack.’ NATO and allied countries have stepped up surveillance in the Baltic region.
Earlier this month, Poland also reported multiple drones entering its airspace during an attack on Ukraine earlier this month.
NATO scrambled fighter jets, and other allies helped to intercept the unmanned craft. The Polish government described the incursion as a serious breach of NATO territory and raised alarm across the alliance.
Support for re-examining nuclear options in Sweden is not limited to one party – Alice Teodorescu Mawe, an MEP for the Christian Democrats, has suggested Sweden should consider contributing to a common European nuclear strategy.
Other European countries, including Poland and some German politicians, have also openly debated national or shared nuclear deterrents, even though many experts say rebuilding a weapons programme would be difficult and politically fraught.
Swedish armoured vehicles participating in a military exercise. Ministers and security experts have said the country should have its own nuclear weapons
Russia has launched a series of provocations across Europe in recent months. Earlier this month, Poland shot down drones that had flown into its airspace
Experts at Sweden’s defence research agency warned that the technical and financial barriers are huge.
‘It would be a very large industrial project,’ Martin Goliath, a nuclear weapons expert at the FOA, said. ‘
A lot needs to be developed, not least the entire infrastructure to produce the materials needed for a nuclear weapon, which would require large investments. I think it would be almost impossible to lay down the resources.’
Goliath and other researchers note Sweden’s nuclear knowledge dates from the Cold War, when the country ran secret programmes and even carried out non-nuclear test blasts in Lapland.
‘It was about understanding the new weapon that had come,’ Goliath said. ‘But pretty soon it was that you also wanted to examine the possibilities: how could you do this in Sweden?’
Those older programmes gave Sweden research and institutional memory, but much has been dismantled.
‘Of course there could be reports that you could dig up from the archives, but the people who actually worked with it, they are not still around, and probably not even alive any more,’ he said.
‘A lot needs to be developed, not least the entire infrastructure to produce the materials needed. You have to start from the beginning, I would think.’
Analysts also point to political and legal hurdles – Sweden is a party to non-proliferation norms and has long backed nuclear disarmament.
Public opinion has strong anti-nuclear currents, and international partners would likely resist any unilateral move.
At the same time, global trends show renewed interest in nuclear forces and a weakening of arms control agreements, which supporters of a debate say makes reconsideration necessary.
Sweden currently has civilian nuclear power plants that supply a significant share of its electricity.
Swedish troops driving infantry fighting vehicles. Other European countries, including Poland and some German politicians, have also openly debated national or shared nuclear deterrents
Vladimir Putin’s recent provocations of European countries has sparked security fears across the continent
But experts say civilian capacity does not mean a quick path to weapons. Building a credible nuclear deterrent would require heavy investment, new industrial facilities, trained personnel, and years, if not decades, of work.
For now, the debate in Sweden is public and unsettled. Politicians and some defence figures say the country must discuss all options given the changed security environment.
Others urge caution, saying the costs, technical hurdles, and diplomatic fallout make a national bomb unlikely and dangerous.
Sweden once came close to building its own atomic bomb to defend itself against the Soviet Union, but abandoned the project in the late 1960s.
The country, which prides itself on peace, signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968 as a non-nuclear state, and its safeguards agreement entered into force in 1975.
The country later adopted the Additional Protocol to allow stricter inspections.
While its Defence Research Agency retained expertise in nuclear effects, much of the infrastructure and technical capacity was dismantled, and the last plutonium remnants were shipped to the US in 2012.
Sweden has since positioned itself as a strong advocate of disarmament and non-proliferation, earning a reputation as a ‘White Knight’ in global arms control.
Although now a NATO member, Stockholm has not pursued nuclear weapons since abandoning its programme.
