The Swedish coast guard will equip personnel with heavier weapons and install machine guns on some vessels. Civil defence minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M) justifies the decision citing the deteriorating security situation in the Baltic Sea. The government issued the mandate last year, which has now been reported.
The Swedish coast guard is to receive heavier weapons to bolster self-protection on its seagoing platforms. Currently, the only weapons onboard are the crew's handguns.
"In the immediate future, the coming year, machine guns will be mounted, among other things, on some of the vessels. And reinforcement weapons will be purchased that can be carried by personnel onboard," says Carl-Oskar Bohlin (M), minister for civil defence.
The move is driven by the current security situation, increased cooperation with the Armed Forces, and future scenarios. "It is important to meet the threat picture that already exists today against the coast guard's vessels," Bohlin says. He adds that the security situation has deteriorated successively in recent years and could worsen.
The coast guard has recently conducted operations against vessels suspected of belonging to the Russian shadow fleet, most recently on Sunday when the sanctioned tanker Jin Hui was boarded. The agency also monitors underwater cables in the Baltic Sea, which have suffered several incidents in recent years. "The coast guard is indispensably important in a world situation where security in the Baltic Sea is exposed," Bohlin says.
The government issued the mandate last year to strengthen self-protection, which has now been reported. Further ahead, more advanced equipment is being considered, including weapons systems and drone defence.
