Ministry for Foreign Affairs

This compilation contains a selection of acts and ordinances – both new and amended – that enter into force in mid-2021.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has decided to extend its advice against non-essential travel to most countries until 1 September. At the same time, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs is lifting the advice against travel to countries and administrative regions that have recently been added to the EU exemption list. As of 24 June, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has lifted the advice against non-essential travel to Albania, Lebanon, North Macedonia, Serbia, the United States, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

The year 2020 was a challenging year for global health. The COVID-19 pandemic is a once-in-a-century health crisis. The acute crisis must be managed while sustaining long-term investments in health systems, health security and healthy communities. The report on Sweden’s development assistance for health contains statistics from the Government Offices and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)on Swedish support to health and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in 2020.

VIENNA/STOCKHOLM, 13 June 2021.

At the Government’s initiative, Minister for Enterprise and Innovation Ibrahim Baylan and Minister for Foreign Trade and Nordic Affairs Anna Hallberg met with colleagues from Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway on 9 June to discuss opportunities to strengthen and create synergies in Nordic vaccine production.

With a view to inspiring and influencing Swedish development policy, Minister for International Development Cooperation Per Olsson Fridh will launch an international advisory group for action on the environment, climate and biodiversity in connection with World Environment Day on 5 June. The advisory group will make an important contribution to fine-tuning Sweden’s global engagement in the most affected countries ahead of coming international high level meetings on climate, environment and biodiversity.

The International Coordination and Response Group for the victims of Flight PS752 today issued the following joint statement:

The humanitarian situation in Yemen is alarming, with millions of people facing famine. On 1 June, the European Commission and Sweden co-hosted the third Humanitarian Senior Officials Meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

Democracy is worth protecting – every day. The freedom to choose, speak, think and love can never be taken for granted. The same applies to people’s right to exercise influence, vote and be treated equally under the law. Sweden will continue to do all it can to be a strong voice and actor for democratic development in the world. We are now stepping up our efforts to protect democracy.

No country can tackle the world’s challenges alone: wars and conflicts, climate change, poverty, lack of equality, lack of respect for human rights, nuclear weapons proliferation – unfortunately the list is long. International cooperation is vital – and it makes us stronger. Sweden remains a firm and tireless voice for more – not less – cooperation.

Sweden has long been at the forefront of promoting, protecting and safeguarding democracy throughout the world. The MFA’s drive for democracy will deepen and strengthen these efforts. “The drive for democracy is a reaction to the pushback against democracy around the world. When authoritarian powers grow stronger, the foundation of our safety and security is under threat. Sweden has a long tradition and strong engagement in the area of human rights. We are now pulling out all the stops to protect democracy,” says Annika Ben David, Ambassador for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has decided to extend the advice against travel introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision means that the advice against non-essential travel to many countries around the world will be extended until 1 July. At the same time, more countries have been removed from the list.

How many people work at the Government Offices? What was the central government budget like last year? How many acts and ordinances were issued last year? The answer to these and other questions can be found in the Swedish Government Offices Yearbook 2020.

This booklet contains names of Swedish government agencies, Swedish organisations and EU bodies, Swedish titles used in the public administrative system and country names. The terms are given in seven languages: Swedish, English, German, French, Spanish, Finnish and Russian.

Due to the very serious pandemic situation, vaccine deliveries to the COVAX global vaccine cooperation have been delayed. Sweden is therefore panning to donate one million doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine to COVAX to help meet the acute need for vaccines around the world. The donation will not affect Sweden’s national vaccination efforts.

In her role as Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde today hosted a meeting with her Special and Personal Representatives to the protracted conflicts in the region. The representatives are meeting digitally over two days to exchange experiences on conflict resolution and how to make these processes more inclusive.

28 April 2021 Check against delivery.

Today the Government is presenting an extensive investment in global health totalling more than SEK 2.5 billion to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines, prevent and manage the risk of corruption and counter displacement effects on health systems in the world’s poorest countries.

On 31 March 2021, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs decided to extend its advice against non-essential travel to countries outside the EU/EEA/ Schengen area/ United Kingdom. The decision remains in effect until 31 May 2021.