The moderate foreign minister Tobias Billström, who was previously migration minister in the coalition government, says that he is currently recalibrating the foreign administration. Ahead of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s meeting with Turkish President Erdoğan on Tuesday, Tobias Billström distances himself from the Kurdish militia in Syria YPG and their political branch, the PYD party. They have long been allies of NATO and the United States in the fight against IS in Syria. Sweden has previously supported the YPG and PYD, but the new government has a different view of the two Kurdish organizations, which Turkey considers terrorists.
“We think that there is a dubiousness and problem regarding those who damage our relationship with Turkey. It is important that it is made clear that there will be no dubious contacts and there must be no uncertainty in this collaboration,” says Tobias Billström. Is the overriding value then Sweden’s relationship with Turkey right now? “The overriding value is Sweden’s membership in NATO and the importance of us achieving success in the negotiations that are ongoing between Turkey on the one hand and Sweden and Finland on the other and that is important that we have a good relationship in these parts,” says Tobias Billström.
More focus on the local area in the new government’s foreign policy
Ukraine and Swedish NATO membership remain the most important priorities in Swedish foreign policy. But compared to the previous government, the new government wants to place greater emphasis on cooperation within the Nordic and Baltic countries and the EU. You have to prioritize and it’s not possible to be present everywhere, says Billström. Does that mean that the government will put less effort into the UN system? “When it comes to how we organize ourselves to take care of UN issues, I cannot rule out that there will be changes, but that work is currently underway,” says Tobias Billström.
Guest: Tobias Billström (M), Minister of Foreign Affairs
Comment: Fredrik FurtenbachEkot’s political commentator
Host: Johar Bendjelloul
Producer: Maja Lagercrantz
Technician: Lotta Linde Rahr
Source: ICELAND NEWS