IISS Stockholm Civil Defence Forum 2026: Key Highlights from the Opening Plenary and Remarks

The inaugural IISS Stockholm Civil Defence Forum opened on April 21, 2026, bringing together political, military and industry leaders to address growing challenges to civil defence in Europe.

The forum, held on April 21–22, 2026, marked the first edition of the annual event organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in Stockholm. It focused on how European states and societies can better prepare for, mitigate and deter crises amid increasing instability.

At the opening of the forum, analysts from the IISS and the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) jointly released a research report titled “Civil Defence in Europe: An Initial Assessment.” The report evaluates current approaches to civil defence across the continent and identifies key challenges in strengthening societal resilience.

The launch event for the report included opening remarks by Dr Jens Mattsson, Director General of the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). Dr Ben Schreer, Executive Director of IISS–Europe and Director of Defence, Technology and Future Conflict at IISS, also participated in the presentation of the report’s main findings.

Other contributors to the report and forum discussions included Dr Jenny Ingemarsdotter, Deputy Research Director at FOI; Dr Monia Lougui, researcher at FOI; Charlie Edwards, Senior Fellow for Strategy and National Security and Head of Analytics at Six Analytic, IISS; and Fenella McGerty, Senior Fellow for Defence Economics at IISS.

The forum’s speaker agenda featured government officials, military experts and industry representatives engaged in both public and private discussions on civil defence strategies. Sessions were structured to examine policy, technological and economic dimensions of national preparedness.

Among the participants was Sweden’s Minister for Civil Defence, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, who delivered a keynote address reflecting on the evolving role of civil defence in national security planning. His remarks followed the forum’s opening session and preceded expert panels on threat assessment and response coordination.

a State Secretary for Security Policy from the Swiss federal administration attended the forum, underscoring Switzerland’s engagement with European civil defence initiatives despite its neutrality. The official’s participation highlighted cross-border interest in aligning national resilience frameworks.

The IISS Stockholm Civil Defence Forum is positioned as a recurring platform for strategic dialogue on how governments can adapt civil defence mechanisms to emerging threats, including hybrid challenges, infrastructure vulnerabilities and societal readiness gaps.