Ministry for Foreign Affairs

October 27, 2020

Today, 23 October, the Government’s 2019 Cultural and Creative Industries Export Prize was awarded to Goodbye Kansas Studios. The rising star award went to Rave Review.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs decided yesterday to extend the advice against non-essential travel to Estonia, Ireland, Latvia and Lithuania until 4 November.

The humanitarian and health situation around the world has worsened considerably as a result of COVID-19. The pandemic is expected to lead to a doubling of the number of people suffering from acute hunger to 265 million this year. Sweden and the World Food Programme (WFP) are now deepening their cooperation to tackle the global hunger crisis.

The Swedish Government, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the World Food Programme (WFP), in collaboration with the Swedish Red Cross, will co-host a high-level meeting on 21 October 2020 in Stockholm, convened by Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Peter Eriksson, the Head of UNDRR Mami Mizutori and the Head of WFP David Beasley.

The objective of Sweden’s international development cooperation is to create conditions to improve the lives of people living in poverty and oppression. Development cooperation will be based on the principles of aid and development effectiveness, the 2030 Agenda, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Paris Agreement.

We are deeply concerned by the contents of the documentary called The Mole, which concerns a number of activities related to the DPRK.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has decided to lift the advice against non-essential travel to Malta and Slovenia. The decision comes into force on 8 October.

The Government’s prize for extraordinary services to Swedish music exports in 2019 has been awarded to the rock band Ghost. The Government’s 2019 Special Prize for long-standing contributions to Swedish music exports has gone to Marie Dimberg.

Estonia, Finland and Sweden have agreed that in case of a new significant information on the catastrophe of the M/S Estonia that has not been reported before, Estonia, Finland and Sweden will jointly assess the new information. A Discovery Network documentary about the M/S Estonia disaster in 1994 includes new underwater video images from the wreck site showing damage on the starboard side of the wreck. Estonia, Finland and Sweden have agreed that verification of the new information presented in the documentary will be made in accordance and full respect of the Agreement between the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden regarding the M/S Estonia signed in 1995. The fundamental idea with this agreement is to protect the M/S Estonia, as a final place of rest for victims of the disaster, from any disturbing activities. Our countries will cooperate closely in this matter and Estonia as Flag State will lead this process. Estonia, Finland and Sweden emphasize that we rely on final conclusions of JAIC (Joint Accident Investigation Commission) Final Report of 1997.

Today, foreign ministers and their representatives from Georgia, Liberia, Mongolia, Portugal, Sweden, Tunisia and Uruguay have come together in the margins of the UN General Assembly to mark the beginning of a new partnership, the Friends in Defence of Democracy.

On 17 September, the Foreign Ministers of Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark met on the Danish island of Bornholm, in the Baltic Sea. The ministers’ discussions focused on international security and foreign policy issues.

Research and innovation are crucial to Sweden’s competitiveness and to rebooting the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. In the autumn budget, the Government is therefore proposing increased funding to Vinnova, RISE and Business Sweden for measures that help reboot Sweden. The proposal is based on an agreement between the Government, the Centre Party and the Liberal Party.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has decided to lift the advice against non-essential travel to Finland and Slovakia. The decision comes into force today.

On September 17, Foreign Minister Ann Linde co-hosted, together with the Foreign Ministers of Germany, Kuwait and the UK, a virtual high-level meeting on the situation in Yemen, in connection to the United Nations’ 75th General Assembly. The meeting was attended by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and a Group of countries particularly engaged in supporting UN efforts in Yemen. The Group comprises the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States), Sweden, Germany, Kuwait and the European Union. The meeting followed-up the Group’s high-level meeting in New York last year, which was also co-hosted by Sweden.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs decided today to lift the advice against non-essential travel to the United Kingdom. The decision comes into force with immediate effect.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is lifting its advice against non-essential travel to Cyprus. The decision enters into force on 10 September. The easing of restrictions that have applied to Swedish travellers has been taken into account in the assessment leading to the decision.

08.-09.09.2020 Tallinn, Estonia. Statement by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden.