By Ion Axinescu
Copyright euroweeklynews
Europe needs to snap out of its daydream. That’s the raw message Sweden’s defence minister, Pål Jonson, dropped in Berlin this week, warning that the continent can no longer afford to think like it’s business as usual.
His phrase was sharp enough to stick: Europe has to shift “from a peacetime mindset to wartime readiness.”
Sweden wants a “new mindset” in Europe
Jonson’s comments come at a time when Russia is flexing hard, stockpiling long-range weapons, pushing its electronic warfare capabilities, and poking NATO’s borders with airspace violations that feel more like intimidation than accidents. Just this week, airports in Copenhagen and Oslo had to briefly shut down because of drones buzzing overhead.
Speaking alongside Germany’s defence chief Boris Pistorius at the CDU-linked Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Jonson didn’t sugarcoat it. Europe, he argued, is still too slow, too comfortable, too bureaucratic, while Russia is moving full-throttle toward a more aggressive military posture. “We need to adopt a new European mindset,” he said, urging Berlin and Stockholm to tighten their military cooperation.
The money problem
The warning also had a financial edge. NATO unity looks good on paper, but Jonson pointed out that fewer allies are shouldering the heavy cost of keeping Ukraine in the fight. For him, Kyiv isn’t just another troubled neighbour; it’s Europe’s frontline defence. Or, as he put it, “the shield—or the sword, if you want to—against Russian military expansion.”
The subtext was loud and clear: Europe can’t keep hitting snooze on the security alarm. While Russia keeps testing the limits, Sweden is pushing its allies to finally start acting like this is real.
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