Direction of Foreign Policy

The plan is explicitly feminist and internationalist: Sweden shall be a voice for peace and justice, increase aid and strengthen the UN, and foreign policy shall be guided by women's liberation, human rights and solidarity. Women's self-determination and sexual and reproductive health are explicitly raised as a precondition for democratic development. An active global stance with a feminist dimension is therefore exactly what the plan requires, whereas a provincialised foreign policy contradicts it.

• independent foreign policydecisive»Sverige ska föra en självständig utrikespolitik där demokrati, respekt för folkrätten och de mänskliga rättigheterna, hållbar utveckling,« (party programme ↗)“Sweden shall conduct an independent foreign policy where democracy, respect for international law and human rights, sustainable development,”
• aid and disarmament»Sverige ska öka biståndet, stärka FN och skriva under kärnvapenkonventionen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall increase aid, strengthen the UN and sign the nuclear weapons convention.”
• women's rights globally»Kvinnors rätt till arbete, självbestämmande och sexuell« (party programme ↗)“Women's right to work, self-determination and sexual”
• global justice»I en rättvis värld måste den globala ojämlikheten kraftigt minskas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“In a just world, global inequality must be significantly reduced.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The election manifesto states that girls' and women's rights shall be strengthened globally and that Sweden shall be a strong global voice, not a withdrawn actor. The party programme defines the party as feminist, and the manifesto makes the right to safe abortions a global rights issue. The counter-proposal's demand for a continued explicit gender equality track and an active global stance is thus the plan's own line.

• global gender equality policydecisive»Flickors och kvinnors rättigheter måste stärkas globalt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Girls' and women's rights must be strengthened globally.”
• active global foreign policy»Sverige ska vara en stark global röst.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall be a strong global voice.”
• feminist basic view»Med denna grundsyn är socialdemokratin ett feministiskt parti.« (party programme ↗)“With this basic view, Social Democracy is a feminist party.”
• SRHR as a right»Säkra aborter måste vara en rättighet för kvinnor i hela världen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Safe abortions must be a right for women in the entire world.”

The plan explicitly promises to develop and strengthen Sweden's feminist foreign and development policy, which is the counter-proposal's core requirement. It also binds Sweden to active global work for family planning and sexual and reproductive health and to broad development cooperation for peace, democracy and climate. The plan also wants Sweden to pursue an independent foreign policy for human rights, which speaks against a withdrawn and only regional approach.

• feminist foreign policydecisive»utveckla och förstärka Sveriges feministiska utrikes- och utvecklingspolitik.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“develop and strengthen Sweden's feminist foreign and development policy.”
• global SRHR work»familjeplanering, sexuella rättigheter och reproduktiv hälsa.« (party programme ↗)“family planning, sexual rights and reproductive health.”
• broad global development agenda»att utvecklingssamarbetet ska bidra till att bekämpa fattigdom, förebygga och hantera klimatförändringarna, bevara och skapa fred, förebygga konflikter, bygga upp demokratiska samhällen och motverka korruption.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“that development cooperation shall contribute to combating poverty, prevent and manage climate change, preserve and create peace, prevent conflicts, build democratic societies and combat corruption.”
• independent global voice»Samtidigt vill vi att Sverige behåller sin militära alliansfrihet för att kunna fortsätta arbeta mot kärnvapen, för nedrustning och kunna bedriva en självständig utrikespolitik där vi står upp för mänskliga rättigheter.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“At the same time we want Sweden to retain its military non-alignment so that we can continue work toward nuclear disarmament, for disarmament and pursue an independent foreign policy where we stand up for human rights.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The plan is explicitly feminist and wants to constitutionally protect the right to abortion and reproductive health, which objectively aligns with the requirement for a continued commitment to women's and girls' rights including SRHR. Foreign policy is stated to aim at safeguarding universal human freedoms and rights, not narrowing to the region. The plan also sees the struggle for liberal democracy as global.

• feminist foundationdecisive»Centerpartiet är ett feministiskt parti, som utmanar och bryter rådande maktförhållanden och kollektiva orättvisor.« (party programme ↗)“The Centre Party is a feminist party, which challenges and breaks existing power relations and collective injustices.”
• universal rights as objective»Utrikes- och säkerhetspolitiken syftar ytterst till att värna universella mänskliga fri- och rättigheter.« (party programme ↗)“Foreign and security policy ultimately aims to safeguard universal human freedoms and rights.”
• reproductive rights»grundlagsskydda rätten till abort och reproduktiv hälsa« (2022 manifesto ↗)“constitutionally protect the right to abortion and reproductive health”
• global struggle for democracy»Runtom i världen pågår en kamp mellan anhängare av den liberala demokratin och auktoritära krafter. Den måste vi vinna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Around the world, a struggle is taking place between supporters of liberal democracy and authoritarian forces. We must win it.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan establishes that it is crucial to facilitate the introduction into the new country, above all to learn the language and find one's own support, and that work and Swedish are most important for quickly entering society. Allowing people with temporary protection to participate in establishment programs is a direct application of that. The election manifesto's line that more who have come to Sweden should work instead of receiving benefits points in the same direction.

• facilitate introductiondecisive»Målet med vår utrikespolitik är en friare värld för alla.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Facilitating introduction into the new country is crucial, especially regarding learning the language, finding one's own support, finding housing and acquiring knowledge of society.”
• work and language first»Sverige ska arbeta långsiktigt för att rätten till abort erkänns internationellt som en del av de mänskliga rättigheterna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work and knowledge of the Swedish language are most important for people from other countries to quickly enter society.”
• work instead of benefits»Den svenska biståndspolitiken måste genomgå stora reformer med fokus på demokrati, jämställdhet och minskad korruption.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Now people's own strength must be utilized by more who have come to Sweden working, learning Swedish and contributing instead of receiving benefits.”
• society introduction for all»Arbetet för varje människas rätt till goda livschanser stannar inte vid det egna landets gränser.« (party programme ↗)“Education on how Swedish society functions shall be offered to all who move to Sweden.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan requires that the gender equality perspective permeate all policy areas and makes women's conditions both a goal and a means in international work, with at least one per cent of GNI in aid. That speaks for maintaining an explicit track for women's and girls' rights and an active global role. The part about sexual and reproductive health, however, is in tension with the plan's commitment to value life from its conception.

• gender equality in all policydecisive»Jämställdhetsperspektivet ska genomsyra alla politikområden.« (party programme ↗)“Gender equality perspective shall permeate all policy areas.”
• women's conditions in aid»Diskriminering av kvinnor i utvecklingsländerna försvårar arbetet med fattigdomsbekämpning, demokrati« (party programme ↗)“Discrimination against women in developing countries makes work on poverty reduction, democracy”
• one per cent in aid»Sverige bör ge minst en procent av BNI i internationellt bistånd.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden should give at least one per cent of GNI in international aid.”
• life valued from its conception»Det är varje värdeförankrad demokratis ansvar att« (party programme ↗)“It is every value-anchored democracy's responsibility to”

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The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The programme's starting point is that Swedish foreign policy shall safeguard Swedish interests and that relations with the Nordic and Baltic neighbouring countries have a special position, while the election manifesto wants to focus foreign policy engagement and aid where it does the most good. An explicitly feminist track with broad global ambition is the opposite of that focus, and the programme also rejects linking freedoms and rights to the collective. Equality as such the plan carries, but not the requested direction.

• Swedish interests guide policyweak support»Svensk utrikespolitik ska värna svenska intressen.« (party programme ↗)“Swedish foreign policy shall safeguard Swedish interests.”
• region firstdecisive»Relationen till våra nordiska och baltiska grannländer har en« (party programme ↗)“Relations with our Nordic and Baltic neighbours have a”
• focused engagement»Fokusera det svenska biståndet till de länder, organisationer och tematiska områden där det gör störst nytta« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Focus Swedish aid on the countries, organizations and thematic areas where it does the most good”
• individual before collective»Fri- och rättigheter tillhör individer och aldrig« (party programme ↗)“Freedoms and rights belong to individuals and never”

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The plan establishes that foreign policy to a greater degree shall protect Swedes' interests and prioritize issues in an unstable regional area that affect Swedish society. An explicitly feminist course with global ambition broadly goes in the opposite direction from this prioritization. The plan also rejects political measures aimed at achieving equal outcomes between genders at the group level.

• Swedish interests firstdecisive»Sverigedemokraterna vill att inriktningen av utrikespolitiken i högre utsträckning än idag ska värna svenskarnas intressen på det globala planet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats want the direction of foreign policy to a greater extent than today to protect Swedes' interests on the global stage.”
• prioritize the region»En grundläggande utmaning i ett allt mer instabilt närområde är att prioritera frågor som kan få stor påverkan för det svenska samhället.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“A fundamental challenge in an increasingly unstable region is to prioritize issues that can have major impact for Swedish society.”
• rejects outcome equality»Riktig jämställdhet nås inte genom att vidta politiska åtgärder för att på gruppnivå skapa samma utfall mellan män och kvinnor« (2022 manifesto ↗)“True equality is not achieved by taking political measures to create the same outcome between men and women at the group level”
• national interests in foreign policy»Värna svenska intressen i internationella sammanhang« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Protect Swedish interests in international contexts”