In a valley in northern Norway, further north than the Swedish border, the two politicians gave a joint speech to Swedish soldiers on the spot.
The two party leaders expressed gratitude to the approximately 1,500 Swedish soldiers who participate together with Finnish army units.
- Ulf, I'm glad you could come here and we could do this together.
We can disagree on many things, but we are both fighting for Sweden's security, says Magdalena Andersson.
- In a democracy, we often focus where we think differently and there are good reasons for that, but there are also good reasons to emphasize unity, says Ulf Kristersson.
Invited with the M-leader
The Prime Minister invited Kristersson to visit the defense exercise, which goes by the name "Cold Response" and is part of the NATO project "Partnership for Peace", with a total of 30,000 soldiers from 27 countries on site.
After being shown around the area in the morning, they were then allowed to eat with conscripts at lunchtime.
- I appreciate that we could do this together.
When there is war in Europe, we do everything we can to cooperate, says Kristersson.
The issue of NATO divides
In the NATO issue, Ulf Kristersson has recently gone out and announced that the Moderates will submit a NATO application if the party wins the election and if there is a parliamentary majority in the issue.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Prime Minister has in turn been clear that a Swedish application for NATO membership is not relevant at present.
The party leaders are asked whether the visit can be interpreted as a further rapprochement with NATO.
- I would not interpret our visit as that, but we have a close partnership with NATO, and we have deepened it during this crisis, Andersson says.