Swedish radio reported on Wednesday that the country is demanding that the EU reimburse it for the alleged costs connected to the military aid that it recently gave to Ukraine. In particular, it was revealed that Stockholm wants $10 million from Brussels for the 5,000 helmets that it sent alone, not even counting whatever it might also demand for its anti-tank weapons and demining equipment. Local radio claims that while the sum is larger than what the supposedly old equipment cost, Sweden might ultimately end up incurring costs instead of profiting. That, however, might not be what happens.

Since details about the helmets are scarce, observers must rely on reputable sources to obtain a clearer picture of how much each particular piece of that equipment probably costs. According to Sweden, each helmet is worth $2,000 yet Hard Head Veterans – far from a so-called “Russian-friendly”, “pro-Russian”, or “Kremlin-controlled” portal – wrote that “For a helmet that meets all safety and testing standards expect to pay $400 or more, and for a higher end, lightweight helmet expect to pay $1000 or more.” This raises questions about how Sweden arrived at its figure of $2,000 per helmet, which is double that.

It can’t be known for sure, but it might very well be the case that Sweden’s military aid to Ukraine was just a scam to milk money from Brussels. In fact, extrapolating further, the US-led West’s such aid to that former Soviet Republic might even represent one of the largest military-industrial scams in modern history other than that which was connected to the War on Afghanistan. Contractors can charge astronomical prices because they know how desperately their clients want this equipment to be sent to Ukraine, and governments like Sweden can demand similarly ridiculous reimbursement too.  

In other words, a massive money laundering operation might be playing out before the world’s eyes, one which might have been dismissed as a so-called “conspiracy theory” by skeptics had it not been for Sweden’s absurd demand that Brussels reimburse its for the helmets that it sent to Ukraine at an eye-watering $2,000 a pop. Hard Head Veterans, which describe themselves as actual US veterans and should thus be regarded as reliable sources of information about such equipment, shared estimated costs per helmet that suggest that Swedish officials are exaggerating their own figure by at least double.

It’s unlikely to happen, but Swedish civil society should pressure their officials to immediately conduct a comprehensive and completely open investigation into this scandal. In fact, civil society within all those countries that have sent military aid to Ukraine should also do the same since it’s very likely that their own governments are also possibly pulling off a similar scam in their own way. Nobody should speculate that US veterans would lie about helmet costs while NATO-aspirant Sweden would tell the truth. Stockholm has self-interested reasons for milking Brussels, but its own greed just exposed this scam.