Sweden - Foreign Policy
Swedish foreign policy is based on the premise that national security is best served by staying out of military alliances in peacetime in order to remain neutral in the event of war. In 2002 Sweden redefined its security position from neutral to one of non-alignment in peacetime with the ability to cooperate with military alliances in peacekeeping and peace-building missions. Sweden was a strong NATO partner, with troops under NATO command in Kosovo and in Afghanistan (where Sweden had 400 troops in 2009).
In 2014 the Swedish government declared itself a feminist government, devoted to a feminist foreign policy. The goal is to ensure that a systematic gender equality perspective is applied throughout the whole foreign policy agenda. Swedish foreign policy is based on the principle that security is built in solidarity with others, and threats against peace and security are averted in cooperation with other countries or organisations.
Sweden is one of the largest contributors to the United Nations. Altogether, the country allocates 1 per cent of its gross national income (GNI) to development aid. As a consequence of a new global security situation, Sweden now plays a more active role in European security cooperation. In 2021 Sweden chaired the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). During 2017–2018, Sweden was a member of the UN Security Council.
As a small nation that has sought for two centuries to avoid armed conflict, Sweden believes its interests are best projected through multilateral agreements in international institutions, and thus focuses its foreign policy efforts within the frameworks of the UN, the European Union (EU), and other multilateral fora. Internationally, the Swedish Government gives special focus to disarmament, arms control, and nuclear nonproliferation. Sweden has greatly contributed to numerous international peacekeeping operations under UN, EU, and NATO auspices, including the NATO-led peacekeeping forces in the Balkans (KFOR). The country contributes to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, and in March 2006 assumed leadership of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Mazar-e-Sharif. Sweden plans to increase the number of troops in ISAF from 375 to 500 in 2009.
Sweden is an active and vocal participant in the United Nations, the World Bank, World Trade Organization (WTO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO), and other international institutions. In January 1995 Sweden became a full member of the European Union after a referendum was passed with a 52.3% majority. Sweden became a member partially because it was increasingly isolated outside the economic framework of the Maastricht Treaty. Sweden is a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace (PFP). Sweden also cooperates closely with its Nordic neighbors, formally in economic and social matters through the Nordic Council of Ministers and informally in political matters through direct consultation.
The Swedish Government did not consider its nonalignment status to preclude it from being outspoken on international issues. Government leaders focus political and financial attention on fostering democracy in developing countries, paying particular attention to key African nations. During the Cold War, Sweden was suspicious of the superpowers, which it saw as making decisions affecting small countries without always consulting those countries. With the end of the Cold War, that suspicion has lessened somewhat, although Sweden still chooses to remain nonaligned.
In 2007, Sweden's Parliamentary Defense Commission (an influential high-level advisory group that includes representative of all seven parliamentary parties as well as think tankers and retired senior government officials) presented a report on Sweden's security that included a significant abandonment of traditional non-alignment language. The report states that "Sweden will not stay passive if a catastrophe or an attack would strike another EU member state or another Nordic country. We expect these countries to act the same way if Sweden were to be attacked." After reviewing the report, Bildt wrote in his blog that "With this, option of neutrality is removed from every reasonable case.... The ground is prepared for security policy cooperation not least in Northern Europe but also within the EU and with NATO."
The Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) exercise is an annual event aimed at improving interoperability and cooperation among regional allies. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States are participating in the exercise. The U.S. participants believe this is an example of how teamwork among different nations helps to increase stability, diminish threats to peace and strengthens relationships between nations. BALTOPS is intended to improve interoperability with partner nations by conducting peace support operations at sea, including gunnery exercises, replenishments at sea, undersea warfare, radar tracking, mine countermeasures, seamanship, search and rescue, maritime interdiction operations and scenarios dealing with potential real-world crises and maritime security.
Sweden was one of the strongest supporters of Turkey's EU accession. They invited Turkey to lead the informal lunch discussion on Iraq at the September Gymnich, for example. Just prior to the start of Sweden's EU Presidency, Reinfeldt and Bildt engaged in a mild dispute with President Sarkozy, resulting in Sarkozy canceling his Stockholm visit. EU politics were not the only culprit for the slow process in accession talks, and the Swedes place partial blame on Prime Minister Erdogan. Reinfeldt and Bildt were concerned that Turkey had made no progress on meeting the additional Ankara Protocol requirements.
Arctic Council participants are the five Nordic countries plus Canada, Russia and the United States, as well as representatives of the six organisations of indigenous peoples in the Arctic. Interest in the Arctic has grown in recent years. The Arctic environment is unique and highly sensitive to disturbances. The region is heavily affected by ongoing climate change, technological development and increasing commercial activities. Temperatures have already risen twice as quickly in the Arctic as elsewhere on Earth. Glaciers and sea ice are melting more extensively than in the past. While efforts must be made to slow the rapid changes, plant and animal life will have to adapt to new conditions. As the ice withdraws, technological advances are creating opportunities to open transport routes across the Arctic Ocean and exploit the natural resources of the Arctic. These developments must be managed in a responsible and sustainable manner so that they benefit the region and do not lead to undesired side effects.
Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds presented 17 February 2006 the annual statement of Swedish foreign policy to the parliament. Freivalds implied an openness to deal with Hamas on Palestinian issues: "A completely new political situation has emerged (following the Palestinian elections) that the international community and Israel must deal with in a sensible way. Support for peace efforts on the part of Sweden and the EU must continue. We also want to continue our support to the Palestinian areas. However, the level of cooperation depends upon the actions of the new Palestinian government. It must dissociate itself from violence in words and deeds, and accept Israel's right to exist." Freivalds took a tough line on Iran: "It is not in any country's interest that Iran acquires nuclear weapons. The pressure on Iran's leadership must be kept up. In the longer term, the whole of the Middle East should be made a zone free of nuclear weapons."
Freivalds placed an emphasis on the importance of the UN, and the need for UN reform: "One of the Government's top foreign policy priorities is UN reform," including a reformed Security Council. Freivalds focused on difficult countries in Sweden's neighborhood, including Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus: "During the year, a broad initiative to promote Sweden will be conducted in Russia," where a new Consulate General will be inaugurated in Kaliningrad. On Ukraine, "Sweden is one of the countries in the EU that is most clearly advocating a membership perspective for Ukraine" in the WTO and the EU. Belarus "is governed by a hard-line, authoritarian regime. Sweden's support to the democratisation of Belarus is best expressed through involvement, not isolation."
Each of the four opposition parties responded separately. Moderate Party vice-Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Gunilla Carlsson chose to focus initially on the Government's failures in connection with the humanitarian disaster in Darfur, calling for UN boots on the ground with Swedish forces contributing. This was intended to demonstrate the gap between the Government's rhetoric and its actions. The Alliance for Sweden has called for a more muscular foreign policy, including a greater willingness to use force when necessary. Carlsson may also have in intended to send a message to Swedish companies that they would be more secure abroad and better supported by a Moderate-led government. Sweden's exports to Sudan had grown from 13 million dollars in 1999 to 80 million dollars in the first 11 months of 2005. Carlsson also underscored the importance of better cooperation with NATO and the US Carlsson noted differences among the Social Democrats, who support strong EU participation, and its supporting parties Greens and Left Party, which oppose Sweden's EU membership. In a later intervention, Carlsson raised the specter of Left party leader Lars Ohly as a possible Foreign Minister.
Liberal Cecilia Wigstrom criticized the Government's role in pressuring a web service to shut down a web site publishing the Mohammed cartoons. Christian Democrat Holger Gustafson called for "a better knowledge of religious questions" in order to avoid the backlash now experienced by Denmark. Gustafson also criticized the Government's openness toward China, "a country with slave camps." He also noted that Christian Democrat head Goran Hagglund had nominated Cuban dissident Osvaldo Paya for the Nobel Peace prize. Center Party Agne Hansson called for a foreign policy based on a broad consensus. Hansson said the US should stop its plans for missile defense.
Left Party Alice Astrom said the same requirements should be made of Israel as of Hamas, and called Israel an occupying power. Astrom cited democratic "progress" in Latin America, with Chavez in Venezuela, Morales in Bolivia, and Lula in Brazil representing the poor people. Green Party Lotta Hedstrom noted that Israel has nuclear weapons, but the US choses to criticize Iran, Korea, and Pakistan. She said Israel was an apartheid state and a sponsor of terrorism.
Social Democrat Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee Urban Ahlin said the US approach of force had not promoted democracy in the Middle East. The EU's attraction had a much better record at inducing democratic reform. There was a long line still of countries wanting to join the EU; they recognize that they would have to make changes to do so. The answer to the question of how to promote democratic reform was not military power.
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said 08 June 2015 her "feminist foreign policy" goals were aimed at obtaining better respect for human rights worldwide. Wallstrom announced Sweden would prioritise women's rights in its foreign policy after the Social Democratic-led government took power in October 2014.
In a few months, Sweden's minority Social Democrat government managed to antagonize both Israel and the Arab world, while also angering business leaders at home as Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom steadfastly pursues human rights and feminism. Wallstrom's agenda, and the criticism it has drawn, has exposed a struggle over Sweden's identity and whether it should become what some politicians call a “moral great power,” or prioritize security and an export-led economy.
The Swedish government declared it will not continue a heavily criticised military cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. While the agreement did not include explicit provisions on specific arms deals, it had been a key driver for Sweden’s increased arms sales to the Saudi kingdom over the past decade. But Sweden is the world's 12th biggest arms exporter.
Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven first captured global media attention when he, at the opening of parliament in 2014, announced that Sweden would become the first major European nation to officially recognize Palestine as a state. The move, while lauded by Palestinians, heavily angered Israel, which answered by recalling its Stockholm-based ambassador. The senior diplomat returned a month later as relations eventually began to thaw.
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