Democracy and human rights

Sweden has long been at the forefront of promoting, protecting and safeguarding democracy throughout the world. The MFA’s drive for democracy will deepen and strengthen these efforts. “The drive for democracy is a reaction to the pushback against democracy around the world. When authoritarian powers grow stronger, the foundation of our safety and security is under threat. Sweden has a long tradition and strong engagement in the area of human rights. We are now pulling out all the stops to protect democracy,” says Annika Ben David, Ambassador for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law.

Discussions at the special meeting of the European Council on 24 May were dominated by the events in Belarus involving the forced landing of a passenger plane in Minsk to detain a journalist. The EU leaders also discussed the situation in Russia. On 25 May, discussions mainly centred on EU climate action and vaccine coordination.

The Government decided today to support the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning new rules to make the EU budget conditional on respect for the rule of law.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) is responsible for Sweden’s relations with other countries and international organisations, and for development cooperation policy and international trade policy. The MFA together with more than 100 missions abroad make up the Swedish Foreign Service. A mission abroad may be be an embassy, consulate-general, delegation or representation. The MFA is part of the Government Offices and is the largest ministry.

On 11 May 2021, the Swedish Government will join the international celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the Istanbul Convention. The Istanbul Convention is the informal name of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

Speech by H.E. Mikael Damberg, Minister for Home Affairs, Sweden, in the Closing Session of the 2021 OSCE Counter-Terrorism Conference. The conference was held virtually, 21 April 2021.

The Government has today decided that the new agency proposed by the Government, the human rights institute, is to be located in Lund. An Inquiry Chair has been instructed to prepare for and carry out the formation of the new agency. The agency is to be established on 1 January 2022.

On Monday 29 March, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven is on a virtual visit to Singapore.

Vaccines and COVID-19 coordination were the main items on the agenda when Prime Minister Stefan Löfven met with other EU leaders at a video conference on 25 March. The single market and digital transformation were also on the agenda. The conference ended with a meeting with US President Joe Biden.

Coordination of the COVID-19 response is the main topic when Prime Minister Stefan Löfven meets his head of state and government colleagues during a two-day video conference on 25–26 March. On Thursday evening, the EU leaders will also have a meeting with US President Joe Biden. On Friday, they will discuss issues related to the single market and digital transformation, and hold a Euro Summit.