SWEDEN’S prime minister said on Wednesday that his government aims to ramp up defence spending to a target of 3.5 per cent of the Nordic country’s gross domestic product, marking its largest military build up since the cold war.

Ulf Kristersson said that the figure was based on an assessment of a new political and security backdrop in Europe in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago and the prevailing “uncertainty” about the transatlantic relationship.

The more robust military ambitions come just over a year after Sweden formally joined the Nato bloc, ending decades of neutrality, largely out of concerns about an increasingly assertive Russia.

Mr Kristersson laid out several pillars of the plan that include continued support for Ukraine, strengthening Nato and bolstering the European Union’s ability to defend Europe. 

He told a news conference: “Our assessment is that Nato — and especially European Nato countries — need to make great strides in the coming years and Sweden is pushing for these decisions to be confirmed at the Nato summit in The Hague in June.”

The goal laid out by Mr Kristersson’s government and Social Democratic party marked “our plan for the largest military build-up of defence since the cold war in Sweden.”