A devastating and unforeseen pandemic that halted travel, social interactions, and the World economy. The first full-scale war on European soil since the end of the Second World War, and a tragic military confrontation in the Middle East. The growing geopolitical tensions between the United States and China as they compete to assert dominance over cutting-edge technological development, and Europe's attempt to carve out its own political and economic space. Given these premises, the 2020s will certainly go down in history as an unstable and challenging time.
As always in these cases, analysts seek out solutions, and cooperation between states is still believed to be the necessary antidote to the crises we are facing, especially in Europe. It is in this context that the relations between Sweden and Italy, whose diplomatic ties go back a long way in history (as far back as the late 15th century), have become increasingly important.
Two nations that may not seem to share much on the surface, Italy and Sweden have been closely cooperating in the last few years as key partners within the EU bloc and, since 2024, as NATO allies. To put it in the words of Jessica Rosencrantz, the Swedish Minister for European Affairs, during her address for the Sveriges Nationaldag celebrations in the Ambassador Residence in Rome on June 3:1
“Sweden and Italy have forged a strong political bond over the last couple of years built over respect, shared values, and a commitment to cooperation on many fronts. [...] We share the same strong conviction that our European Union, at this defining moment of history, must be strong and stay united.”
How have the bilateral relations between Italy and Sweden evolved in the teeth of the many challenging issues the EU is facing today? We have sat down and discussed this and many other topics with a guest of great expertise and insight: His Excellency Jan Björklund, the Swedish Ambassador to Italy.
Mr. Björklund was appointed Ambassador on September 1, 2020. Over the last 5 years, he has overseen the relations with Italy and the UN agencies based in Rome (FAO, IFAD, and WFP). As his mandate is now drawing to its natural conclusion, Mr. Björklund has been appointed Marshal of the Realm by King Carl XVI Gustaf and has done us the immense honor of answering our questions.
Sweden Alumni Network Italy: Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for having us today. Let us begin with a few questions to break the ice.
Mr. Ambassador, you are a person with a long-standing career in politics, which began in the 1980s, when you rose to the vice-presidency of the Swedish Liberal Party’s youth organization, and continued until the 2010s, when you became the Minister of Education, Schools, and Research and Deputy Prime Minister. After such a successful career, what inspired you to become a diplomat and accept your mandate to Italy?
Jan Björklund: I wanted to continue to serve my country. So I told the government that if they could have a use for me in any position, I would be willing to accept it - because I want to serve Sweden. I’ve done that for my whole life and I wanted to continue with that. Then, they [i.e., the Swedish government] came up with this proposal. Of course, Italy is very close to Sweden, maybe not geographically within Europe, but it is close in a lot of other ways - politically, commercially, and so on. So, of course I said yes.
SANI: Was the transition from national politics to diplomacy seamless, or were there challenges related to this new position you had not anticipated?
JB: Well, there are a lot of similarities between being a politician in the government and an ambassador. You are representing Sweden - even as a minister, you are often abroad to represent Sweden. When you are a minister, you also work with all political areas within the European Union, which are common to Sweden and Italy; and even as an ambassador, you work on these issues.
Then, there is of course a big difference. When you are a politician, you are in the driving seat; when you are a diplomat, you are an observer, you don’t take any action: you observe and report to your country. Then, you’ve got instructions [from the government] and of course there is a big space for your own initiative - but that is the big difference.
SANI: What did you like the most about Italy, or is there a particular place you like in this country?
JB: There are two parts to this question, I think: first about the job as an ambassador and then of course to live in Italy. When it comes to the job, I liked, and it has been important, to develop both the political and commercial cooperation within our countries. I have tried to do that during my years in Italy: that has been very fun, but also very important.
As to living in Italy, most Swedes - like myself - love Italy. And that is, of course, because of the culture, the history, the food - wine and everything - which makes Italy... Italy. I tried, together with my family, to visit a lot of different parts of Italy. Everybody asks me ‘What’s the best place?’, I don’t know - there are a lot of different ‘best places’ in Italy.
SANI: Let’s talk about European politics and current affairs now.
In the five years of your mandate as an Ambassador, Europe and the world at large have undergone several and sometimes dramatic changes: from an unforeseen pandemic that seemingly upended commerce and travel to the spectre of war in Europe and the Middle East, and, more recently, the widespread instability that has characterized stock markets. Given all these aforementioned challenges, how do you see Sweden’s role in the European Union evolving to face them?
JB: Well, we have almost forgotten Covid, that was of course a big challenge at the time. But I think the important challenge we have is man-made: it’s the war in Ukraine. Russia is again very aggressive in Europe and that’s a big challenge to all of us in Europe. The war was unprovoked, it’s unacceptable, and it is illegal. The Russian forces have committed lots of war crimes and they have to be held accountable for that. We can’t allow Putin to win this war. And you can discuss what is winning a war, but it can’t be the perception of the war that Putin won it, because then we are in great difficulty: he won’t stop with Ukraine, he will continue. It’s very important that Russia doesn’t win this war, that’s the most important thing, I think, for the future of Europe. If we are decided in Europe to really help Ukraine, we can do it: we have done it for several years, but we have to step up.
SANI: What are the policy areas in which cooperation between Sweden and Italy is stronger in Europe?
JB: We cooperate in a lot of areas, almost everything: within the European Union, now within NATO, bilaterally, when it comes to the industrial sector, business, tourism: one million Swedes visit Italy every year - that’s one tenth of our population! The big majority of Swedes have been to Italy and most of Sweden love Italy. It is a very easy job to be the Swedish ambassador to Italy because Swedes love Italy and most Italians like Sweden - even if the majority of Italians have not been to Sweden, they like Sweden. It’s a very easy job, nobody is angry at me now!
SANI: How do Sweden and Italy work together within the European Union on economic policies?
JB: When it comes to economy within EU, and first of all the competitiveness of Europe with China and the United States, then we [Italy and Sweden] have the same position: Europe has to be more competitive, we are loosing ground in competition with other great powers in the world every year now, we have to change that.
When it comes to within the EU, we often have the discussion that Italy often wants EU to pay for more reforms in Europe, while we [Sweden] are a little more reluctant on that - we think that it is actually responsibility of the national states. Maybe that reflects that Italy has some challenges with its own economy - Sweden has not - but, overall, we were together very closely also on economy and, most of all, on the important question: how to change this development in Europe where we have to increase our economic growth, and that comes with more competitiveness.
SANI: As a result of a changing geopolitical landscape in the aftermath of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Sweden has recently joined NATO, breaking a long-standing neutrality. What role can Sweden have in NATO? How do Italy and Sweden collaborate within the NATO alliance? What new defence and intelligence channels have opened up with Italy?
JB: Well, first of all, Sweden has been neutral (or non-aligned) for two hundred years. Sweden didn’t participate in the First World War, Sweden didn’t participate in the Second World War: we were neutral. Now, that created a mindset in Sweden: if you are neutral, you can avoid war. That is, of course, an illusion, but this was the collective mindset in Sweden. Ukraine was also neutral, but they were attacked. Before the Second World War, all our neighbouring countries were neutral - Norway, Denmark, Finland: they were neutral, but they were attacked. So, neutrality is not a protection against being attacked. On the opposite, membership in a strong alliance can be a protection against being attacked. But that was the mindset: when you’re neutral, you can avoid war. Now, since Russia attacked Ukraine, that mindset changed very rapidly.
Of course, there is a big difference between Sweden and Italy: we are very close to Russia geographically, and that creates a big difference between Sweden and Italy. For three hundred years, Sweden’s security policy has always set its eye on Russia, and when it started to act like this [i.e., attacking Ukraine] a lot of people changed their mind and wanted to join NATO. Personally, I believe we could have joined NATO much before 2022, but we did, and it was a good decision.
SANI: Let us now move on to two areas that are particularly important for the members of the Sweden Alumni Network Italy: industry and commerce, and academic research.
In terms of commerce and industry, many Swedish companies operate in Italy and vice versa. What are the industry sectors where Italy and Sweden collaborate the most?
JB: A lot of them. Science, automotive... Let’s make some examples: when a FIAT is produced in Torino, a lot of the parts in that car are produced in Sweden or by Swedish companies in Italy. SKF [a Swedish company specialized in bearing and seal manufacture] in Torino has three thousand employees and delivers most of its products to FIAT, Ferrari, or the other Italian car brands. As regards life science, AstraZeneca, a Swedish company, has a lot factories in Italy producing for the healthcare sector. Then, defense industry: there is a lot of cooperation between Leonardo and the Swedish equivalent SAAB. These are only a few sectors, we have a lot of business sectors where there is much cooperation. Sweden and Italy are both heavily industrialized countries, with big and strong engineering traditions, and that means that we can also learn from each other and cooperate to be more successful together.
SANI: Most of our members have studied and conducted academic research in Swedish universities. How do Swedish and Italian universities collaborate in research and education?
JB: Well, you are examples of this cooperation, actually. First of all, a lot of Swedes study in Italy and a lot of Italians study in Sweden: we can increase that more. You are the most important ones, I think, to recruit people from Italy to Sweden, and the opposite: I’ve met a lot of Swedes studying here in Rome, in Milano, and in other places. So, we already have that cooperation on the student and research levels. Then, universities have a lot of cooperation together, but you shouldn’t underestimate the research made in the private sector, in all these technologically advanced industries: AstraZeneca is one of the really big research investors in the Swedish business sector, and they have a lot of activities in Italy. So, we have different levels with a lot of cooperation. It would be even better if that increased, of course, but we have a lot of cooperation already.
Recently, we have had a big seminar on space research, where both Sweden and Italy are very strong actors. So, we collaborate in a lot of areas.
SANI: We are now approaching the end of this interview. We would like to ask you one more personal question.
Mr Ambassador, as this mandate approaches its end, how do you see your future? We know you have been appointed Marshal of the Realm, so what are its duties?
JB: Well, there is only one job like this in Sweden, so not many know about it. But the Marshal of the Realm, in Italy you would say Capo di Corte Reale, is the Head of the Royal Court. First of all, there is a big organization around the King and the Royal Family of which the Marshal of the Realm is the chief. Then, you are the closest advisor to the King in a lot of areas - that is the main task for this position. So, I am very honored I’ve got the question from the King - I don’t know why I’ve got it, but I know why I answered yes: because I have experience from the foreign service, from the government - I’ve been in the government for many years, and in the parliament - and I have also a military career from when I was young. So, I think these three areas are important in the Europe of today, and I hope I can contribute with my experience from these areas.
SANI: We thank you very much for your time, sir. Would you like to leave a message for the members of the Sweden Alumni Network Italy?
JB: Absolutely! I think you are the best people to increase this cooperation in the academic sector between Italy and Sweden, because you have done it yourselves. We others have only talked about it, but you have done it. When you go to another country and study, carry out research: that is the important cooperation between our academic sectors. So, please, continue with this Network, continue with your own studies, and also use your influence on those who will come after you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
And to the readers and watchers of Voices of Sweden: we’ll see you in the next one!
Sweden officially celebrates its National Day on June 6.
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