Defence chiefs under fire from children’s rights group after warning of ‘armed attack’ from Russia spreads on TiKTok
Sweden’s answer to Childline was inundated with calls from Gen Z after senior defence officials gave a speech urging their countrymen to prepare for war.
Bris, a children’s rights organisation, provides support and advice to young people with mental health issues or facing teenage pregnancy.
But it reported a rise in calls after videos of senior defence figures warning of war circulated on TikTok.
Carl-Oskar Bohlin, the civil defence minister, told the Folk och Försvars conference on Saturday that “there could be war in Sweden”.
“For a nation for whom peace has been a pleasant companion for almost 210 years, the idea that it is an immovable constant is conveniently close at hand,” he said.
“But taking comfort in this conclusion has become more dangerous than it has been for a very long time.”
He added: “Are you a private individual? Have you considered whether you have time to join a voluntary defence organisation? If not: get moving.”
Sweden is set to join Nato as soon as July, ending more than two centuries of neutrality and ushering in a shift in the national psyche towards greater militarisation.
Its government has pledged to meet Nato’s 2 per cent of GDP defence spending target by the end of this year, double what it was in 2020.
‘They should have given advice for kids’
Maja Dahl, a spokesman for Bris, said Mr Bohlin should have considered how his “well prepared” remarks would be interpreted by young people.
“They should have provided information meant for kids when they come out with this kind of information for grown-ups,” she told the BBC.
Sweden’s defence minister and most senior generals, however, doubled down on Mr Bohlin’s remarks and endorsed them, telling Swedes that the country had no choice but to prepare themselves for war.
Pal Jonson, the defence minister, told the conference on Sunday that “an armed attack against Sweden cannot be ruled out”.
“War can also come to us,” he said. “These serious times require clarity of vision, capacity to act and persistence – clarity of vision to understand that Russia’s goal remains the eradication of a free Ukraine and creation of a Europe in which ‘might is right’ with buffer states and spheres of interest.”
‘Look at the news from Ukraine’
Gen Micael Byden, the commander-in-chief, warned citizens live on broadcaster SVT that “you have to prepare yourself mentally”.
He said: “Look at the news from Ukraine and ask yourself the simple questions: If this happens here, am I prepared? What should I do?
“The more people who have thought, considered and prepared, the stronger our society will be.”
Did Swedish officials do that, purely for internal politics? It makes no sense to me that Russia would or even could try to attack them (positioning of Kalingrad and St Petersburg, how poorly their navy did against a country without a navy, Sweden being in EU, etc). Plus they are running out of time with Sweden joining NATO.
EDIT: thanks everyone for the insight
I think Sweden should make a pact with Russia and annex Finland, or maybe something else – that would be cool
It’s corrupt politicians who want war, on both sides. Don’t be fooled! Don’t radicalize, stay calm
That’s the reason why people should prepare beforehand as if the shit hits the fan it’s possible/likely your phone and internet doesn’t work.
Little Dark age Edits are really popular in sweden
Gen z considered children?
It seems to me that this is exactly why they said that. It is very unlikely Sweden will go to war in the next few years, but if the population is (understandably) quite this unprepared for war, it’s pragmatic to start preparing psychologically now that the risk is low.
By the time war is just around the corner, there won’t be time to psychologically prepare the nation.
Title Sums up Gen Z perfectly
We’re basically told to have water and food for a few days, not bad advice in a country where temperatures can go below -50 and snow can isolate entire communities. People are silly.
That’s a problem of any developed country: people just don’t wanna risk and die even if it’s all about their country/land/property.
If children are scared of this we have two solutions:
1. They might be too young to be able to take on information of this type. Don’t let your small children listen to all news.
2. Why don’t they ask their parents instead of the government/helpline? The parents should be able to explain what it means.
This is no different than talking about the threat of climate change. You don’t do it to scare people, you do it to make people prepare and think about. The climate change scare many kids with stupid parents as well that don’t explain to them the world is not ending tomorrow or the day after that.
Attacking Sweden, or a NATO country would be extremely stupid, but the thing is that Russia IS extremely stupid. I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that, but it is better to be prepared than unprepared. In Russia, stupid comes with the territory. You should not underestimate their stupidity.
fearmongering at its finest
We really gotta do something about Tiktok and social media. This is going to lead to generations of people having no ability to tell fact from fiction and being extremely vulnerable to outside influence (as seen now).
The completely ridiculous reaction from the population in general, and Gen Z in particular, shows just how necessary of a wake-up call this was. This is not just relating to the Muscovite threat, we are sleep walking into a very uncertain future where those that are young today WILL be forced to take very unsavory political actions that will make or break Sweden of the next generation.
Gen Z think that just protesting for the climate is enough, when the matter of the fact is that the future uninhabitability of certain parts of the world will bring along an apocalyptic migration that will usher in something akin to a state of war whether we want to or not.
This is just Russian and/or far-right propaganda. Many in Sweden were upset over how the government told people to prepare for war as if there would be war within the next couple of months. They literally made children cry. The previous social democrat government said the same thing already in 2018, and got ridiculed by the right for being “preppers”, but they didn’t say it in the same alarmist tone that made children cry.
TikTok is a psychological weapon of the Chinese communist party against West should be banned!
Cognitive agent that entrenches itself in the youth in mere moments.
CCP cushioning the young people opinion that US=bad EU=bad while supporting agents of chaos to gain from political strife.
> “They should have provided information meant for kids when they come out with this kind of information for grown-ups,”
Society is fucked if this is the kind of mental fortitude Gen-Z has. Gen-X grew up with [public information films and adverts on the TV](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0OPVi90-lg) telling them what to do in the event of a nuclear strike. They weren’t having meltdowns.
Current Sweden is the definition of “weak men create hard times”.
FFS
EU has to prepare for war, it may not come to Swedish territory, but it will come eventually to some EU member and we all have to be ready for it – response needs to be swift and stern.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
TBH, this only proves that the warning was a necessary move, before the ukraine invasion too everyone said that a war in modern europe is impossible, but look at what happened, by giving the warning now sweden is only doing the right thing by preparing itself, like imagine if the hysteria among the gen Z manifested itself during an actual war, it is good that the hearts be hardened when there is still time, for no one knows when war grips the continent.
“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
that doesn’t make sense, sweden doesn’t have a direct border with russia, russia doesn’t even have a significant army in kaliningrad.
Having watched the original interview, its hilariously wild how people react to what was a simple matter of fact statement about being better prepared for crisis and war, from the people whose whole job is Swedens defense and readiness, during the national conference week dedicated to defense and crisis prevention.
Beyond updates about the current world situation *(even naming ruzzia as out biggest threat isnt new, its been the stance for well over a century)*, the info about people being prepared wasnt new either. When the government sent out pamphlets and distributed updated info in 2018 they where mocked and ridiculed for it, this time its “omg why are they so harsh and blunt, dont they know it ScArEs tHe KiDs!!!!”
Its also fun following it in media, being spun from its original message, to it being turned into “omg Sweden will be at war any moment now, panic!”, both by serious media outlets, but also trolls who love spinning it as badly as possible.
Meanwhile in Finland: 💦♨️🧖
“They should have provided information meant for kids when they come out with this kind of information for grown-ups,” she told the BBC.
​
But, isnt that what parents are for?
Sometimes I feel incredibly old. Its hard to understand that comments like the one from BBC seem reasonable to ANYONE who has had a parent tell them about anything important to explain anything significant to them, ever in their life.
28 comments
Defence chiefs under fire from children’s rights group after warning of ‘armed attack’ from Russia spreads on TiKTok
Sweden’s answer to Childline was inundated with calls from Gen Z after senior defence officials gave a speech urging their countrymen to prepare for war.
Bris, a children’s rights organisation, provides support and advice to young people with mental health issues or facing teenage pregnancy.
But it reported a rise in calls after videos of senior defence figures warning of war circulated on TikTok.
Carl-Oskar Bohlin, the civil defence minister, told the Folk och Försvars conference on Saturday that “there could be war in Sweden”.
“For a nation for whom peace has been a pleasant companion for almost 210 years, the idea that it is an immovable constant is conveniently close at hand,” he said.
“But taking comfort in this conclusion has become more dangerous than it has been for a very long time.”
He added: “Are you a private individual? Have you considered whether you have time to join a voluntary defence organisation? If not: get moving.”
Sweden is set to join Nato as soon as July, ending more than two centuries of neutrality and ushering in a shift in the national psyche towards greater militarisation.
Its government has pledged to meet Nato’s 2 per cent of GDP defence spending target by the end of this year, double what it was in 2020.
‘They should have given advice for kids’
Maja Dahl, a spokesman for Bris, said Mr Bohlin should have considered how his “well prepared” remarks would be interpreted by young people.
“They should have provided information meant for kids when they come out with this kind of information for grown-ups,” she told the BBC.
Sweden’s defence minister and most senior generals, however, doubled down on Mr Bohlin’s remarks and endorsed them, telling Swedes that the country had no choice but to prepare themselves for war.
Pal Jonson, the defence minister, told the conference on Sunday that “an armed attack against Sweden cannot be ruled out”.
“War can also come to us,” he said. “These serious times require clarity of vision, capacity to act and persistence – clarity of vision to understand that Russia’s goal remains the eradication of a free Ukraine and creation of a Europe in which ‘might is right’ with buffer states and spheres of interest.”
‘Look at the news from Ukraine’
Gen Micael Byden, the commander-in-chief, warned citizens live on broadcaster SVT that “you have to prepare yourself mentally”.
He said: “Look at the news from Ukraine and ask yourself the simple questions: If this happens here, am I prepared? What should I do?
“The more people who have thought, considered and prepared, the stronger our society will be.”
Did Swedish officials do that, purely for internal politics? It makes no sense to me that Russia would or even could try to attack them (positioning of Kalingrad and St Petersburg, how poorly their navy did against a country without a navy, Sweden being in EU, etc). Plus they are running out of time with Sweden joining NATO.
EDIT: thanks everyone for the insight
I think Sweden should make a pact with Russia and annex Finland, or maybe something else – that would be cool
It’s corrupt politicians who want war, on both sides. Don’t be fooled! Don’t radicalize, stay calm
That’s the reason why people should prepare beforehand as if the shit hits the fan it’s possible/likely your phone and internet doesn’t work.
Little Dark age Edits are really popular in sweden
Gen z considered children?
It seems to me that this is exactly why they said that. It is very unlikely Sweden will go to war in the next few years, but if the population is (understandably) quite this unprepared for war, it’s pragmatic to start preparing psychologically now that the risk is low.
By the time war is just around the corner, there won’t be time to psychologically prepare the nation.
Title Sums up Gen Z perfectly
We’re basically told to have water and food for a few days, not bad advice in a country where temperatures can go below -50 and snow can isolate entire communities. People are silly.
That’s a problem of any developed country: people just don’t wanna risk and die even if it’s all about their country/land/property.
If children are scared of this we have two solutions:
1. They might be too young to be able to take on information of this type. Don’t let your small children listen to all news.
2. Why don’t they ask their parents instead of the government/helpline? The parents should be able to explain what it means.
This is no different than talking about the threat of climate change. You don’t do it to scare people, you do it to make people prepare and think about. The climate change scare many kids with stupid parents as well that don’t explain to them the world is not ending tomorrow or the day after that.
Attacking Sweden, or a NATO country would be extremely stupid, but the thing is that Russia IS extremely stupid. I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that, but it is better to be prepared than unprepared. In Russia, stupid comes with the territory. You should not underestimate their stupidity.
fearmongering at its finest
We really gotta do something about Tiktok and social media. This is going to lead to generations of people having no ability to tell fact from fiction and being extremely vulnerable to outside influence (as seen now).
The completely ridiculous reaction from the population in general, and Gen Z in particular, shows just how necessary of a wake-up call this was. This is not just relating to the Muscovite threat, we are sleep walking into a very uncertain future where those that are young today WILL be forced to take very unsavory political actions that will make or break Sweden of the next generation.
Gen Z think that just protesting for the climate is enough, when the matter of the fact is that the future uninhabitability of certain parts of the world will bring along an apocalyptic migration that will usher in something akin to a state of war whether we want to or not.
This is just Russian and/or far-right propaganda. Many in Sweden were upset over how the government told people to prepare for war as if there would be war within the next couple of months. They literally made children cry. The previous social democrat government said the same thing already in 2018, and got ridiculed by the right for being “preppers”, but they didn’t say it in the same alarmist tone that made children cry.
TikTok is a psychological weapon of the Chinese communist party against West should be banned!
Cognitive agent that entrenches itself in the youth in mere moments.
CCP cushioning the young people opinion that US=bad EU=bad while supporting agents of chaos to gain from political strife.
> “They should have provided information meant for kids when they come out with this kind of information for grown-ups,”
Society is fucked if this is the kind of mental fortitude Gen-Z has. Gen-X grew up with [public information films and adverts on the TV](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0OPVi90-lg) telling them what to do in the event of a nuclear strike. They weren’t having meltdowns.
Current Sweden is the definition of “weak men create hard times”.
FFS
EU has to prepare for war, it may not come to Swedish territory, but it will come eventually to some EU member and we all have to be ready for it – response needs to be swift and stern.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.
TBH, this only proves that the warning was a necessary move, before the ukraine invasion too everyone said that a war in modern europe is impossible, but look at what happened, by giving the warning now sweden is only doing the right thing by preparing itself, like imagine if the hysteria among the gen Z manifested itself during an actual war, it is good that the hearts be hardened when there is still time, for no one knows when war grips the continent.
“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
that doesn’t make sense, sweden doesn’t have a direct border with russia, russia doesn’t even have a significant army in kaliningrad.
Having watched the original interview, its hilariously wild how people react to what was a simple matter of fact statement about being better prepared for crisis and war, from the people whose whole job is Swedens defense and readiness, during the national conference week dedicated to defense and crisis prevention.
Beyond updates about the current world situation *(even naming ruzzia as out biggest threat isnt new, its been the stance for well over a century)*, the info about people being prepared wasnt new either. When the government sent out pamphlets and distributed updated info in 2018 they where mocked and ridiculed for it, this time its “omg why are they so harsh and blunt, dont they know it ScArEs tHe KiDs!!!!”
Its also fun following it in media, being spun from its original message, to it being turned into “omg Sweden will be at war any moment now, panic!”, both by serious media outlets, but also trolls who love spinning it as badly as possible.
Meanwhile in Finland: 💦♨️🧖
“They should have provided information meant for kids when they come out with this kind of information for grown-ups,” she told the BBC.
​
But, isnt that what parents are for?
Sometimes I feel incredibly old. Its hard to understand that comments like the one from BBC seem reasonable to ANYONE who has had a parent tell them about anything important to explain anything significant to them, ever in their life.