Statement of Foreign Policy 2010

Each February, the Minister for Foreign Affairs presents the Government's Statement of Foreign Policy in the Riksdag. This statement is commonly known as the Foreign Policy Statement. The presentation is followed by a debate in the Riksdag. The Foreign Policy Statement outlines the direction of the Government's foreign policy in the coming year.

This year's Foreign Policy Statement is the first under the Treaty of Lisbon, a Treaty that means a crucial step in strengthening the European Union as a global actor. Europe has thereby gained new opportunities to shape international developments on the basis of European interests and values. Sweden's foreign policy is more integrated into the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy than ever. This gives Sweden a new responsibility and new opportunities to work actively for freedom, peace and reconciliation around the world, and it is the Government's main foreign policy priority to do so.

The main challenges for Sweden and the EU in the area of foreign policy include:

• Strengthening the EU as a global actor
• Contributing to a Europe that continues to remain open, with particular interest in, and responsibility for, development in the EU's neighbours and enlarging the Union
• Further developing the Eastern Partnership
• Further developing the Baltic Sea Strategy
• Taking action for a climate agreement that ensures the 2º Celsius goal
• Promoting sustainable globalisation, based on democracy, human rights and international law, and creating prosperity and freedom
• Combating political deadlocks in the UN system
• Countering protectionism from a central level, strengthening the internal market
• Strengthening initiatives for freedom of expression, with particular emphasis on freedom of expression on the Internet
• Intensifying Sweden's development cooperation in Afghanistan and promoting a strengthened international civilian operation in the country
• Pressing forward the development of the European Union's instruments for peace, so as to be better able to promote peace and development in our world
• Promoting a world without nuclear weapons. Driving the issue of making tactical nuclear weapons the object of negotiations and reductions.

The reform of Sweden's development policy will continue to move forward. The Government's focus on clear results and increased transparency in development assistance is central. Developments in Haiti following the earthquake disaster will be followed closely and Sweden will help promote stability and reconstruction. Sweden is one of the world's leading humanitarian actors and provides extensive support in all humanitarian crises, primarily through the UN in its coordinating role. Sweden has therefore responded rapidly and effectively to needs following the earthquake disaster.