Yesterday in London, Swedish Defence Minister Karen Enström and the UK Minister for International Security Strategy, Dr Andrew Murrison signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the UK and Sweden for Military Exercises and Training. The main purpose of the MOU is to define the legal status of military personnel of one country when invited to participate in military training in the other. This enables mutual participation in the type … Read more »UK and Sweden sign Defence MOU
A memory of Lady Thatcher
As I prepared for an interview on ExpressenTV on the night of Lady Thatcher’s funeral, I read through the entries in the Embassy’s condolence book. Many Ambassadors, representing countries from across the world had come to the Embassy to pay their tributes, as had members of the British community and Swedish citizens. What struck me was the strong personal impression Margaret Thatcher’s life and work had made on the lives … Read more »A memory of Lady Thatcher
Human Rights and Democracy Report 2012
This year it will be 65 years since the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Open any newspaper or news website today and you find depressingly many and varied examples of continuing breaches of those universal rights in countries around the world. Advancing respect for universal human rights is a priority for UK, and EU, foreign policy. For that reason, every year the Foreign and Commonwealth … Read more »Human Rights and Democracy Report 2012
Voting for a Greener Future
Today, an important vote is taking place in the European Parliament. The British Government has asked all British MEPs to vote for a more competitive EU by supporting a higher price on carbon emissions. A well-functioning market, where it is more expensive to produce carbon emissions is crucial for green growth, and for the UK, Sweden, and all other EU member states. The EU’s Trading Emissions scheme helps drive European … Read more »Voting for a Greener Future
Threats Old and New
This week, Foreign Ministers from the Group of Eight (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, US and Russia) met in London. They looked at a wide range of issues, including the situation in the Middle East (specifically Syria and Iran), Africa, DPRK and climate change. Two particular issues they addressed illustrate that diplomacy has a role to play in tackling threats as old as warfare is and as new as … Read more »Threats Old and New
Iron, Ice and Innovation
This job takes me to a range of interesting places but it is not often in the space of a few hours that I end up 500 metres underground and then in a bedroom five degrees below freezing! Such was my contrasting experience on my visit to Kiruna this week. As guest of LKAB, which produces over 90% of all the iron ore mined in Europe, I visited the Kiruna … Read more »Iron, Ice and Innovation
Earth Hour
Earth hour will take place tonight at 8.30pm. Hundreds of millions of people will turn off their lights for one hour, on the same night, all across the world in a huge, symbolic show of support. The whole of the UK government, and especially the FCO and its embassies around the world, will also mark the hour in various ways across the world. Why? The economy of course! There are … Read more »Earth Hour
A budget for business and growth
20 March, as well as being the Spring Equinox, was budget day in the UK. As in other European countries, the UK economy has been affected by the chill of the eurozone’s problem and the long winter of the international financial crisis. Against this backdrop, our government has announced several new measures to stimulate recovery. More details on the HM Treasury website. Taxation Reduction in the main rate of corporation … Read more »A budget for business and growth
Farewell to Princess Lilian
It was an honour to attend the beautiful and moving funeral service for Princess Lilian, at Slottskyrkan on Saturday. It was a service with a strong British flavour, with the Palace Choir singing Vaughan Williams’ For All the Saints and a wonderful choral arrangement of Parry’s Jerusalem. The congregation sang Abide with Me (in English) and Amazing Grace (in Swedish). At the end a lone piper played Auld Lang Syne … Read more »Farewell to Princess Lilian
The Falkland Islands: Having Their Say
Swedish Foreign Minister, Carl Bildt tweeted on 11 March: “Today people on Falkland Islands will express their view on whether they want the islands to remain part of the UK or not. We will listen.” The answer was clear. On a 92% turnout, 99.8% voted to stay a British Overseas Territory. This was not some Soviet-era style plebiscite. This was a clear affirmation of a desire, freely expressed, to remain … Read more »The Falkland Islands: Having Their Say