Macron in Sweden to sign multi-billion euro frigate deal and strengthen strategic partnership

Published on 31/08/2026 - 10:46 GMT+2

France's President Emmanuel Macron is set to sign a multi-billion euro deal for four French frigates with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm on Monday, alongside a framework aimed at strengthening Franco-Swedish cooperation.

Under the terms of the €4.3 billion agreement, the delivery of the first frigate, manufactured by the French industrial Naval Group, is scheduled for 2030.

France's Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin and her Swedish counterpart Pål Jonson will also sign a framework agreement to enhance defence cooperation in "operational, capability and industrial areas."

According to the Élysée Palace, the meeting marks a new phase in the two countries’ deepening strategic partnership, with closer security and defence cooperation aimed at strengthening both European defence and the North Atlantic Alliance.

Sweden announced the purchase of the four frigates in May, as part of a broader rearmament effort prompted by the war in Ukraine and its accession to NATO in 2024.

In May, Kristersson qualified the frigate deal as "one of the largest Swedish defence investments since the Gripen fighter jet was introduced in the 1980s."

According to the Naval Group's website, the frigates are designed to "detect and neutralise all types of threats," whether "surface, airborne, underwater, asymmetric or cyber."

During NATO's summit held in Ankara in July, France pledged to contribute troops to a Swedish-led NATO mission in Finland. In a joint statement, the three countries stated that "France will contribute with ground forces deployments to rotations of Forward Land Forces Finland, including a battle unit."

In recent years, the two countries have been working to enhance their defence ties, as France finalised a deal worth more than €1 billion for two GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, produced by the Swedish giant Saab in December.