Stockholm, 14 October 2022
On Tuesday 11 October, Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist and Dutch Minister of Defence Kajsa Ollongren signed a bilateral Statement of Intent on enhanced defence cooperation between the two countries.
The defence ministers’ meeting is part of the Dutch State Visit to Sweden, which is taking place on 11–13 October. In connection with the visit of the Swedish and Dutch royal couples to the Vasa Museum on Tuesday afternoon, the defence ministers signed a joint Statement of Intent (SOI). The purpose of the SOI is to enable deeper defence cooperation between the two countries. The visit to the Vasa Museum reflects the long standing and good relations between Sweden and the Netherlands in the maritime area.
“In light of the serious security situation in Europe, strengthening cooperation with another neighbour sends an important security signal. The Netherlands is an important partner and the SOI enables further advances in everything from operational activities between the army, air force and navy to cooperation in the procurement and maintenance of materiel,” says Minister for Defence Peter Hultqvist.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Hultqvist and Ms Ollongren met at Riddarhuset for talks on defence cooperation, Sweden joining NATO, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the security situation in Europe and Sweden’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2023, among other things.
Source – Swedish Government