Maria Malmer Stenergard’s lecture at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore

Your Majesty, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

It is an honour and privilege to deliver this Raffles Lecture in front of such an impressive audience. I would like to start by thanking the IISS Asia for organising the lecture, and the Raffles Hotel for hosting us.

Singapore and Sweden's similarities and shared interests have brought us here.

We've both experienced extraordinary growth journeys to become prosperous.

We've both benefited from open markets, open trade, and open sea lanes.

And we've both gained from a world built on rules and order, rather than one based on brute force and disorder.

That world, where everyone plays by the same set of rules, is now being challenged. But together, I’m convinced that states like Sweden and Singapore can defend it.

That is why I will focus my remarks today on the interests that states like Sweden and Singapore share, how the security of our two regions is increasingly interlinked, and how that affects my Government's actions.

The role of the lndo-Pacific region, not least countries in Asia, is crucial to successfully address the global challenges of today. This is a role that Sweden appreciates.

We have a long-standing tradition of close relations and partnerships with countries in the region, especially ones that are open and free trade­ oriented like Singapore.

Swedish companies have strong ties to the lndo-Pacific region, and many are looking to expand their presence here.

For example, the Swedish presence in Singapore can be seen through three IKEA stores, pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca's planned manufacturing facility, and the fact that half of Singapore's 6 000 city buses are made by either Volvo or Scania.

My Government wants to build on these existing relations and partnerships and make Sweden's presence in the lndo-Pacific even more pronounced.

For instance, in my Government's new Strategy for Sweden's Trade, Investment and Global Competitiveness, there is a particular focus on promoting trade and investment relations with countries in Asia.

But we are also looking into other ways of strengthening our broader engagement in the lndo-Pacific region, including through an increased focus on the Pacific Islands.

This focus is only natural. Bilateral trade between the EU and the lndo­ Pacific is the most of any two regions in the world.

Moreover, almost 90 per cent of the EU's external trade in goods is seaborne, often passing through key chokepoints such as the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea. With your port, Singapore is at the heart of this.

For all these reasons, Sweden has an interest in paying close attention to what happens in this part of the world.

However, Sweden and Singapore are not only like-minded in our striving for openness and free trade. We also share a fundamental respect for international law and a rules-based world order.

We both believe that principles matter in international affairs. 

We both believe that might does not equal right.

In that sense, we are strategic partners. What that means is, as the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has said: ”the reality of two regions that have so much in common despite being a world apart”.

Or put differently, the reality of two regions whose security is now bound together.

Nothing shows how our security is now linked more clearly than Russia's awful, unlawful war of aggression against Ukraine.

Yesterday marked 1 000 days since Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour Ukraine.

That means 1 000 days of immense suffering for hundreds of thousands of civilians.

That means 1 000 days of ripple effects across the world and disruptions of global food and energy supplies.

That means 1 000 days of blatant violations of international law and the UN Charter.

Russia's full-scale invasion was an irreversible turning point for Swedish, European and global security. As this audience is well aware of, Sweden's and Finland’s membership of NATO is a direct result of this unprovoked and indefensible war. The fact that Sweden and Finland came together in the process of becoming members of NATO also strengthened the needed public support in our countries. 

With Sweden and Finland in NATO, the situation in our neighbourhood becomes more predictable. It raises the threshold for an armed conflict, and it increases security and stability both for us and for our Allies.

We have made this historic shift because Russia's war is a war against the principles that countries like Sweden and Singapore believe in.

That's why it's also in our interest to defend these principles. Respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence cannot be called into question anywhere in the world.

Russia simply cannot be allowed to reap any fruits of this war of aggression. Nor is impunity for Russia's crimes an option.

That's why we are grateful for Singapore's support to Ukraine and engagement for a just and lasting peace based on the UN Charter. We look forward to further cooperation with partners in the lndo-Pacific region to reach that goal.

For Sweden, the support to Ukraine is existential and our foremost foreign policy priority. Because for the foreseeable future, Russia will remain a serious threat to Sweden's and Europe's security.

Moreover, the Kremlin's efforts to recreate an empire and violently overturn the European security order present a challenge to every state. The consequences will not be contained to Europe. The war in Ukraine is not a regional issue – it is a global problem.

Recently, we have seen alarming reports on how North Korea is sending troops in support of Russia's illegal war. This is the first time in a century that Russia has invited foreign troops into the country, and yet another example of how interconnected the security of Europe and the lndo-Pacific is.

Since the Euro-Atlantic and lndo-Pacific regions are becoming so interlinked, Sweden welcomes the deepening of cooperation with partners in this region, both with the European Union and with Nato.

We are also doing more bilaterally to enhance our security cooperation. Earlier this year, Sweden adopted a Defence Policy Direction for cooperation with countries in the lndo-Pacific.

We see this as increasingly important in a turbulent world, where we have to maintain stability, defend the rules-based order and secure trade flows.

As trade and export-oriented economies, safe sealines of communication and freedom of navigation are core interests to both Sweden and Singapore. In a globalised world, there are no threats to these interests that are strictly regional.

Sweden also stands to gain from more defence cooperation with Singapore, since it can increase our own capabilities. One reason for this is that the maritime operation environment – the seabed and the undersea topography – in these waters is very similar to the Baltic Sea. Thus, despite being a world apart, even our geography is not as different as one might think.

When describing global developments, especially seen from this part of the world, China's role appears unavoidable.

Today, China is the world's second-largest economy and developing into a leader in many areas of technology, research and innovation.

In a growing number of policy areas, China is positioning itself as a power broker to contend with and a competitive provider of resources and expertise.

We need China to engage on global challenges and assume responsibilities that are in proportion to its size and importance.

We also want to cooperate constructively with China on the big challenges the world is facing - climate change, biodiversity loss, debt sustainability, global health, and disarmament and non-proliferation, to name a few.

Swedish companies have long been present in Asia, including in China, where they have contributed to the development of both local communities and cutting-edge innovation.

We want to continue to promote these exchanges.

We want to uphold trade and ensure that companies can compete on a level playing field.

At the same time, we're taking steps to defend our economic security. 'De­ risking' is not a policy directed against any one country. It simply means being aware of vulnerabilities and reducing dependencies that may have implications for our economies and national security.

While bolstering the resilience of our societies and economies, we need to ensure that the commercial links connecting Europe and Asia can continue to flourish.

As I’ve said several times already, the connections between the lndo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic areas are also evident when it comes to security policy. China's enabling of Russia's war in Ukraine through its support to the Russian industrial base directly affects European security.

China's growing capability to project power has consequences. Primarily for our close partners right here in Asia, but also in some ways for Swedish and European interests. I repeat: we need to safeguard the rules-based international order, and that needs to be a global commitment.

The United States recently concluded its presidential elections, in which Donald Trump was again elected as US president.

We know that Asia has held an important place in US policy-making for a long time. We therefore expect that China and the lndo-Pacific will remain central to US policy-making under the next administration as well.

This is obviously something that we take into consideration when we think about our engagement in both the Euro-Atlantic and lndo-Pacific regions. Because it is clear the geopolitical centre of gravity has shifted eastwards.

In this context, it would be a mistake not to mention lndia. We are seeing a much more confident lndia emerging on the world stage and, like everyone else, we have to learn to look at and work with lndia with fresh eyes and revise old strategies.

lndia cannot be viewed as a component of a de-risking agenda. India is a partner. It is a global economic and innovation powerhouse in its own right, and it will have an essential role to play in the green transition and addressing global challenges. In the lndo-Pacific, we will rely on lndia to remain a defender of democracy, multilateralism, and the UN Charter.

I sincerely believe that more international partnerships and more cooperation is the only way forward. This has also been reflected in the evolution of Swedish foreign policy.

Most notably, since 1995, Sweden has been part of the European Union: the world's most integrated, well-functioning international partnership founded with the aim to promote peace, security, and prosperity. The EU is a community of values and Sweden's most important foreign policy platform.

During Sweden's Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2023, we seized the opportunity to engage with our lndo-Pacific partners by hosting and co­ chairing the EU lndo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm.

In total, 60 foreign ministers from the lndo-Pacific and the EU gathered in Sweden to intensify our political dialogue, particularly on free trade, the green transition and geopolitical tensions. [His Majesty The King of Sweden inaugurated the event.]

Such cooperation between the EU and the lndo-Pacific region is of enormous geopolitical and economic importance - especially since growing tensions are putting pressure on trade, technology and foreign and security policy.

In the same spirit, Sweden is also a strong supporter of the ever-closer EU­ ASEAN strategic partnership.

Your Majesty, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I began by saying that it is Singapore and Sweden's similarities and shared interests that have brought us here.

That is, our common conviction that trade should be free, sea lanes should be open, and international law must prevail.

As I hope I’ve made clear, I believe that this conviction provides a solid base for partnership.

Because both Sweden and Singapore know what makes a nation great. Just as my Polish colleague Radek Sikorski did when he held a Raffles Lecture, I would like to quote your long-time Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to illustrate this point:

"A nation is not great by its size alone. It is the will, the cohesion, the stamina, the discipline of its people, and the quality of their leaders which ensure it an honourable place in history."

Thank you.