Political relations
The current bilateral political relations between Serbia and Sweden are good and are characterized by a positive trend in the development of political dialogue, with a strong interest in their further improvement.
During 2021, Serbian MFA N. Selaković participated in the OSCE Ministerial Council, 1-3. December in Stockholm, and a delegation of the Swedish Riksdag led by its president A. Norleen visited Serbia on 24-26 August 2021. Swedish MFA A. Linde visited R. Serbia (in the capacity of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office) on May 24 and 25, 2021. The then Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, visited Stockholm 1-2. February 2015, while former Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Maja Gojković visited Sweden 20-21 March 2018. On the Swedish side, former Prime Minister Stefan Leven visited Serbia on 15-16 August 2016, former President of the Riksdag Urban Alin on April 25-26, 2017, as well as the then MFA Margot Wallstrom on October 10, 2017.
Serbian-Swedish relations were established in 1882, when, at the request of Serbian King Milan Obrenović, the then United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway passed the Act of Recognition of the Kingdom of Serbia.
Economic relations
Sweden has been Serbia's long-term and most important economic partner among the Scandinavian countries, and we have a trade surplus with them. In 2021 trade amounted to 512.68 milion of euros (exports 290.17 milion of euros, imports 222.50 milion of euros). In 2020 trade amounted to 394.33 mil. euros (exports 199.5 million euros and imports 154.84 million euros). In the last few years, investments from Sweden have been mainly placed in the sales and distribution business and the service sector in Serbia, in which about 100 companies with Swedish capital are successfully operating today. Among them, the most prominent investments are the companies Tetra Pak (72 million euros), LK Armatur (1.5 million euros), Verisec, IKEA, the first department store was opened in 2017. It has invested 70 million euros and plans to invests EUR 300 million in a total of 5 department stores in Serbia), Trelleborg / Mitas, Gorenje Tiki doo / Nibe Industrier, Rimaster AB, AQ Inductive Components, Transcom Worldwide.
Development aid of Sweden: Development aid is financed through the program of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA allocates around EUR 12 million in grants to RS annually). Sweden's total non-refundable aid so far amounts to about 270 million. EUR. A Serbian-Swedish Business Council (with about 40 companies) has been established in Sweden, which aims to promote the potential of the Serbian economy.
Bilateral agreements
Currently, there are 29 bilateral agreements in force. In terms of importance, the following stand out:
Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden on Mutual Protection of Investments,
Special Agreement between the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of the Republic of Serbia,
Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden on Cooperation in the Field of Law Enforcement, and
Donation agreements concluded between the Government of Sweden and the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro (set of four agreements).
Contact information
The Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Stockholm (Sweden): http://stockholm.mfa.gov.rs/index.php.
The Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden in Belgrade (Serbia): https://www.swedenabroad.se/en/embassies/serbia-belgrade/.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia – Department for Europe: tel. 00 381 (0) 11 30 68 326, e-mail: oev@mfa.rs.