SWEDEN
12 February 2025
On 12 February, Minister for Foreign Affairs Maria Malmer Stenergard presented the 2025 Statement of Foreign Policy in the Riksdag. Speech by Maria Malmer Stenergard
Maria Malmer Stenergard, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Download the statement as a pdf here
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(LAST PART OF THE STATEMENT, PAGE 9)
Mr/Madam Speaker,
Sweden’s diplomatic presence abroad is one of our main tools to assert our interests.
The Government has therefore conducted a review and can now announce several new missions abroad and other reinforcements.
Sweden’s presence in the United States is being expanded. A new consulate-general in Houston will consolidate cooperation in key industrial sectors such as space, aviation, defence, energy, IT and life sciences.
Our Consulate-General in Brussels is being upgraded to an embassy, reflecting Belgium’s role as an important partner for Sweden in the EU and NATO.
In the coming months, Sweden will open a new embassy in Senegal, which will work to promote our interests in French-speaking West Africa and the Sahel.
We are strengthening Sweden’s presence in the Indo-Pacific region – which is important in terms of trade and security – with the addition of a new Stockholm-based envoy for the Pacific Ocean.
We are also installing a Stockholm-based ambassador to Peru to further promote our relations with key partners in Latin America.
Taken together, these steps aim to strengthen our partnerships and improve conditions for trade, investment and innovation.
Last year, Swedish citizens Johan Floderus and Saeed Azizi, who had been wrongfully imprisoned in Iran, came home to Sweden. The Government will continue its efforts to secure the release of journalist Dawit Isaak, publisher and poet Gui Minhai, and researcher Ahmadreza Djalali.
