Press release
28 June 2012
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Bildt and Carlsson present reports on human rights situation in EU neighbourhood countries
Today Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt and Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson will present 44 new human rights reports.
The reports concern the EU neighbourhood countries - Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. These are important countries for Sweden and the EU. They are also countries that have undergone rapid, and often dramatic, development in 2011, and where there has been a great demand for up-to-date information.
- For us, these reports are a way of sharing the knowledge of the Swedish Foreign Service and at the same time clarifying our policies, our desire for dialogue and our strong commitment to human rights in the world, says Mr Bildt.
This year marks ten years since the Ministry for Foreign Affairs first published reports on the human rights situation in countries around the world. The reports reflect the Government's ambition to integrate human rights into all areas of foreign policy.
- The Government's human rights work involves promoting the most fundamental values of our own country and stressing that these rights apply to people everywhere. We must constantly uphold the protection of human dignity and the integrity, freedom and inviolability of the individual, says Ms Carlsson.
Sweden is, and will always be, a clear voice for human rights in the world. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs works through bilateral contacts, through the EU, and multilaterally through the UN, OSCE, EU and the Council of Europe to promote full respect for human rights in all the countries around the world.
All the new reports, and reports from other countries, are on the Government's human rights website: www.manskligarattigheter.se
