International

On 28–29 January, Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard is visiting Colombia. A business delegation comprising around 20 Swedish companies, with a focus on mining and energy, will take part in the visit.

Sweden echoes the EU statement and strongly condemns the latest round of arbitrary detentions by the Houthis of seven UN personnel working in Yemen.

The International Contact Group for the Great Lakes (ICG), chaired by Germany, gave a statement on the situation in eastern DRC.

Joint Statement by Nordic Baltic Foreign Ministers on Belarus, 26 January 2025.

On 21 January 2025, Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard and Minister for Justice Gunnar Strömmer travelled to Ankara to launch Sweden and Türkiye’s bilateral security dialogue, Security Compact. In talks with their Turkish counterparts, joint efforts to combat terrorism and cross-border organised crime and current international affairs were discussed.

On 23–24 January, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa will receive UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, who is visiting Stockholm. His agenda includes a meeting with the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Swedish civil society organisations and Swedish companies working with humanitarian issues. Discussions will focus on the humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Gaza, Syria and Sudan.

The Strategy will apply in 2025–2029 and is worth a total of SEK 1.5 billion.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard and Minister for Justice Gunnar Strömmer will travel to Ankara on 21 January to launch Sweden and Türkiye’s bilateral security dialogue, Security Compact. During the meeting the ministers will discuss security cooperation and international affairs.

Speech by Minister for Energy, Business and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch at the technology fair CES, Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, 8 January 2025. Check against delivery.

The Government has decided to invest SEK 4.3 billion in global health and increased sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Sida has been tasked with implementing a five-year strategy for Sweden’s development cooperation in the area of health and sexual and reproductive health and rights from 2025 to 2029.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard, along with her Nordic and Baltic colleagues, has written a letter urging the EU Commission proposing to lower the oil price cap within the G7.

Speech by Minister For Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard at the Folk och Försvar Annual National Conference 12 January 2025. Check against delivery.

Joint Statement by Nordic Baltic Foreign Ministers on energy situation in the Republic of Moldova, January 7, 2025

Joint Statement by Nordic Baltic Foreign Ministers on Situation in Georgia, 29 December 2024.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Elinor Hammarskjöld as Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel. Ms Hammarskjöld currently serves as Director-General for Legal Affairs and Head of the Directorate-General for Legal Affairs at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

A letter of intent on strengthened defence cooperation between Sweden and Moldova was signed on 20 August 2024.

The Government has decided to allocate SEK 800 million to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the region. Sweden is also continuing its support to the response in Gaza through extensive core support to a number of key humanitarian actors. The Government’s core support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will be discontinued.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States to counteract foreign malign information influence activities. The agreement is an important platform for closer cooperation and exchange of experience between Sweden and the US in this area.

The Government has decided to provide a maximum of SEK 258 million (approximately USD 25.06 million) to the Asian Development Fund (ADF). These new funds will support long-term economic development and poverty reduction in the poorest and most vulnerable developing countries in Asia and the Pacific region.