Sweden: Siltanews – News Desk
Paris and Stockholm are deepening defense ties in missiles, air defense and even nuclear deterrence amid uncertainty caused by Donald Trump. The sun has just risen when the silver French air force tanker takes off from southern France bound for northern Sweden.
France’s April deployment of the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport is part of the Pégase High North mission to Sweden’s northernmost air base of Luleå. It’s the third such visit by the French air force this year — a concrete example of Paris pivoting to European defense after decades of focusing mainly on the Indo-Pacific and the Sahel.
It’s also a sign of closer cooperation between two of Europe’s defense heavyweights as the continent boosts military spending to counter the threat from Russia, amid questions over the U.S. commitment to Europe’s security under President Donald Trump.
“We’re showing that we’re capable of operating across Europe in half a day,” said General Patrice Hugret, the head of the French mission.
Sweden and Finland joining NATO — a break from decades of neutrality triggered by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — is putting more focus on the Arctic as the region becomes a growing source of tension for NATO, Russia and even China.
That makes the Swedish base a “sweet spot … to protect the border in the east,” said Colonel Peter Greberg, the commander of Luleå’s air base. “We’re approximately 600 to 700 kilometers away from the first Russian military base. From a flying perspective, it’s not that far.”
Despite very different geographies — Sweden is an Arctic nation that shares a maritime border with Russia, while France is on NATO’s southern flank and faces the Mediterranean Sea — Paris and Stockholm are surprisingly similar when it comes to defense policy, and they are getting closer.
Both countries share a vision of military self-sufficiency that includes a powerful, wide-ranging defense industry and armed forces able to defend their own territories without much outside help.
“We have been forced to develop a complete set of capabilities for our air force. [Before joining NATO], we could not rely on anyone else,” said the commander of the Swedish air force, Major General Jonas Wikman, standing in front of French Rafale and Swedish Gripen fighter jets on the Luleå airbase tarmac.