Sweden in the EU

Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 10–11 July to attend a memorial ceremony marking the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica. Thirty years have passed since the genocide and the subsequent conclusion of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which brought the war to an end.

A new initiative is launched today during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Italy. The Rome Declaration for Science, Research and Innovation in Ukraine will support the reconstruction and modernisation of Ukraine’s science and research ecosystem. Sweden is one of the founding members to the initiative.

On 10 July, Minister for EU Affairs Jessica Rosencrantz led Sweden’s delegation to the annual international Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC), which was held in Rome this year. The delegation included Swedish government agencies, companies and organisations.

Today, 1 July 2025, marks the 25th anniversary of the Öresund Bridge. Sweden and Denmark are close to each other in terms of culture, values and common objectives – and their cooperation has never been closer than it is now. To mark the anniversary, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen adopted a declaration with the objective of making the Öresund region safer and more competitive and simplifying living and working across the border.

Sweden needs new nuclear power to cover energy needs, provide a secure supply of electricity to the national grid and carry out the energy transition. As of 1 August 2025, companies seeking to build reactors will be able to apply for state aid. The Government has now approved a new ordinance regulating the application process.

The Swedish Government prioritises Ukraine’s path towards EU membership, and Sweden is now strengthening its support to increase Ukraine’s capability to implement its accession negotiations. The Stockholm School of Economics has been granted SEK 3 million via the Swedish Institute to train Ukrainian civil servants and diplomats in negotiation skills.

Opinion piece by Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa, Svenska Dagbladet, 17 juni 2025.

Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden; Poland as observer, due to their Presidency; Estonia, as observer.

On Thursday 12 June, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson received Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for a bilateral meeting in Stockholm.

After two years of negotiations, EU Member States have agreed on a proposal for a revised pharmaceutical legislation in Europe. The process has met many obstacles along the way and the countries’ positions have been far apart on many fundamental issues, not least in regard to data protection issues and incentives for the development of priority antimicrobials.

Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari is participating in the UN’s third Ocean Conference, UNOC-3, in Nice. At the Conference, a declaration is expected to be adopted on the implementation of measures to protect and preserve oceans.

Opinion piece by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard, Minister for Energy, Business and Industry Ebba Busch and Minister for Education Johan Pehrson, Svenska Dagbladet, 23 May 2025.

On 21–23 May, Minister for Social Services Camilla Waltersson Grönvall and Minister for Older People and Social Security Anna Tenje visited Lviv, Ukraine. While in Ukraine, Ms Waltersson Grönvall and Ms Tenje took part in the Ministerial Social Policy Summit, which Sweden co-hosted together with Ukraine, Moldova and Lithuania. Ministers from several EU countries were also in attendance.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard gave a speech on 27 May on the occasion of Africa Day. Check against delivery

We are deeply concerned by recent legislative and constitutional amendments infringing on the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ persons which were adopted by the Hungarian Parliament on 18 March and 14 April 2025 following other anti-LGBTIQ+ legislation already introduced in previous years.

The Government has decided to submit a detailed opinion on the French proposal to ban the sale and possession of white snus. The proposal is far-reaching and involves banning all products containing white snus in France, which would be a restriction of free movement in the EU Single Market.

Sweden faces considerable problems with volatile electricity prices for households and businesses and imbalances in the electricity system. To deal with this, the fossil-free base load needs to be expanded. In March 2025, the Government adopted the Financing and risk sharing in new nuclear power Government Bill, which included proposals for state aid to companies that want to invest in nuclear reactors. The Riksdag has now decided to adopt the Government’s proposal.

On May 16, Sweden signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning the protection of critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. The MoU was concluded with the Baltic Sea countries within the EU, along with Norway, Iceland and the EU.