Government: Sweden cannot continue to support Ukraine at the same level

During a meeting with the EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (M) expressed dissatisfaction with some countries bearing the entire burden of supporting Ukraine and that it is not sustainable in the long run.

The Nordic countries cannot continue to bear a disproportionately large share of the support for Ukraine, warns Maria Malmer Stenergard in an interview with Politico.

“Some countries take on almost the entire burden. It is not fair and it is not sustainable in the long run,” she says.

“That the Nordic countries, with fewer than 30 million inhabitants, account for a third of the military aid that NATO countries, with almost a billion inhabitants, will provide this year… This is not sustainable. It is not reasonable in any way. And it says a lot about what the Nordic countries are doing – but it says even more about what the others are not doing.”

The Foreign Minister criticizes the leaders who express pro-Ukrainian positions in speeches but do not back up their rhetoric with cash.

“If you choose to go to your constituency and give all these types of speeches and say that Ukraine is not only for their freedom, but also for ours, then you must also help the nation.”

Maria Malmer Stenergard’s comment focuses on something that is rarely publicly acknowledged – that despite passionate speeches from many leaders, the actual support for Ukraine is very asymmetrically distributed. An example is Denmark, which has contributed more than ten billion euros since the start of the war in 2022, which is almost three percent of the country’s GDP. On the other hand, there is Spain, which has given barely 1.5 billion euros – less than 0.2 percent of GDP.

Overall, the Nordic and Baltic countries contribute the most in terms of GDP to Kiev, while the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Poland, and France all provide significant aid.

Zelensky with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M). Photo: President Of Ukraine from Україна

Frozen Russian assets

Ukraine faces a significant budget deficit from next year and according to Malmer Stenergard, it is absolutely necessary for EU leaders to reach an agreement on how to continue supporting the country when they meet next in Brussels in December.

This week, the EU Commission sent out a letter outlining three options to support Ukraine: Two involve EU countries contributing more to the war-torn country, while the third requires using around 170 billion euros in Russian assets still frozen in Belgium.

According to Maria Malmer Stenergard, the third option is the only credible one. She also notes that the EU has spent more money importing Russian energy products since the start of the war than on helping Ukraine.