The government of Sweden has extended an invitation for NATO, an intergovernmental organisation comprising 32 countries in Europe and North America, to open a logistics headquarters in Enköping, around 50 miles from Stockholm.
It explains that each NATO Area of Operations has a Joint Logistics Support Group Headquarters (JLSG HQ) that ‘leads and coordinates the maintenance and transport of military units within the area’.
In the near future, it says, the Nordic countries will gather in NATO’s Northwest Area of Operations, which will necessitate a JLSG HQ in the new Area of Operations.
During peacetime, the headquarters is expected to have around 70 active personnel on-site, with this number raising to 160 in the event of a heightened state of alert or war.
This new headquarters will will be part of the NATO command structure, with staffing coordinated centrally by NATO. All NATO members will reportedly have the opportunity to second staff officers there.
Sweden’s minister for defence, Pål Jonson, commented: “NATO presence in Sweden strengthens our security and deterrence. The logistics centre assists the defence of NATO’s northern flank.”
The Swedish Armed Forces has been tasked with preparing for and establishing the headquarters so that it is operable by the end of 2027, and will ‘continuously update’ the country’s Ministry of Defence on the progress of work to establish the NATO Headquarters.
