Foreign Secretary in Sweden to endorse NATO accession and bolster security cooperation
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will visit Sweden to discuss their NATO accession plans and strengthening cooperation on key issues.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly with Tobias Billström, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, pictured on the island of Gotland.
- visit to push for NATO accession ahead of the Alliance’s summit in July
- talks held in Gotland, including with the Swedish Foreign Minister
- accelerating cooperation on security and ways to tackle illegal migration both on the agenda
The Foreign Secretary will give full UK backing to Sweden’s bid to become NATO members on a visit to the country this week.
Ahead of next month’s NATO Summit in Lithuania, James Cleverly will visit Gotland, a strategically important island, sitting just over 200 miles north of Kaliningrad, home to Russia’s Baltic Fleet.
During his time there, he will meet Swedish Foreign Minister, Tobias Billstrom, see crew from a Swedish submarine rescue ship in action and hold a discussion on European security as part of Almedalen Week, an annual meeting on the island.
In a sign of the strength of the ties, the visit comes a week after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in London where they discussed the strong friendship between the 2 countries, including across defence, security, trade and technology.
Ahead of the visit, the Foreign Secretary said:
The UK and Sweden relationship goes back over a thousand years and plays an ever more pivotal role in European security today.
My message to our Swedish friends is clear, the UK is doing all that we can to support their accession to NATO, which must happen as soon as possible to bolster our defences and make us all safer.
Talks between the Foreign Secretary and Swedish Foreign Minister, Tobias Billstrom will focus on security cooperation, support for Ukraine and the challenge from China.
Forging closer ties between the 2 countries will make both countries safer and help accelerate cooperation on national security and combat migrant smuggling, delivering on the Prime Minister’s priority to tackle illegal migration.
The Foreign Secretary will also meet the Swedish Defence Minister, Pål Jonson to discuss strengthening defence cooperation, including through joint exercises and training between UK and Swedish Armed Forces.
Background
- photos from the visit will be available on the UK Government Flickr account
- Almedalen week is an annual cross-party political event in Sweden. With speeches, seminars and other political activities, it is considered to be the most important forum in Swedish politics. During the week, representatives from the major political parties in Sweden take turns to make speeches in Almedalen
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