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European Coalition for Civil Preparedness and Resilience holds second ministerial meeting

Government Offices of Sweden

Press release from Ministry of Defence

Published 27 November 2025

In a rapidly evolving security landscape marked by hybrid threats and geopolitical instability, civil preparedness and societal resilience have become strategic priorities for Europe. To strengthen cooperation and ensure preparedness for all security threats, including armed aggression, ministers responsible for civil preparedness and resilience from several EU member states convened for the second meeting of the European Coalition for Civil Preparedness and Resilience.

Over two days, the ministers discussed how to advance the EU preparedness agenda while aligning national civilian capabilities with NATO's resilience objectives. The meeting underscored the importance of psychological defence and defence willingness, focusing on how to maintain citizens' resilience and readiness to defend democratic societies. Insights from Ukraine's experience were shared by H.E. Ambassador Svitlana Zalishchuk, together with Magnus Hjort, Director General of Sweden's Psychological Defence Agency.

The agenda also included civil-military cooperation, illustrated by a presentation from General Michael Claesson, Sweden's Chief of Defence and Mikael Frisell, Director General of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) on planning assumptions for the development of Sweden's total defence 2025-2030. This strategic open document outlines seven planning scenarios, assesses their impact on vital societal functions, and integrates lessons learned from Ukraine to guide future preparedness measures.

During the meeting Sweden presented a non-paper on establishing a NATO format for ministers responsible for civil preparedness. This initiative aims to institutionalise political-level input into NATO planning, enhance coherence between military and civilian efforts, improve national implementation, and foster EU-NATO complementarity in critical areas such as the protection of infrastructure and crisis response. The discussions on this matter will continue.

"The Swedish proposal on creating a dedicated ministerial format within NATO for civil preparedness is essential to ensure that civilian and military efforts are fully integrated. Such a step will strengthen resilience across Europe as well as the Alliance and improve our ability to respond to future hardship and crises. I have had a first discussion with my colleagues in the Coalition today and the ambition is to move forward with this as soon as possible," says Carl-Oskar Bohlin, Minister for Civil Defence.