Sweden plans to refill food silos for first time since the Cold War, citing a potential conflict with Russia

Sweden has announced that it will begin stockpiling food and agricultural supplies for the first time since the Cold War, citing what officials describe as a growing threat from Russia. Moscow has rejected these claims, insisting that it poses no danger to any NATO or EU countries.

The Swedish Board of Agriculture stated on Tuesday that it will create emergency reserves of grain and other key supplies to ensure that citizens have access to sufficient food "in the event of a serious crisis and, in the extreme, war." The government has allocated around $57 million in its 2026 budget to fund the program.

The first storage facilities will be established in the north of the country due to its "strategic military importance" and low level of self-sufficiency in grain, according to Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin, who said "there is no time to lose."

The new stockpiles will be built up over the period of 2026-2028. The Board of Agriculture said the goal is to guarantee food supplies equivalent to 3,000 calories per person per day during a state of heightened alert.

Lawmakers in neighboring Finland, meanwhile, have said they will conduct underground training exercises next month to practice working in wartime conditions, similarly citing a supposed threat from Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly denounced what it calls anti-Russian hysteria and fearmongering pushed by Western European leaders, stressing that it has no reason or intention to take hostile actions against any EU or NATO countries. Russian officials have dismissed the claims as nonsense meant to justify inflated military budgets and the bloc's ongoing militarization.

Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO in 2023 "foolish," adding that Moscow had not had any issues with either country and had long maintained friendly relations.

He said the two Nordic states "lost the benefits of their neutral status" by joining the US-led bloc and that the decision has needlessly undermined regional stability without enhancing their security.

(RT.com)