Sweden will no longer have so-called feminist diplomacy or an environment ministry, the country’s new government said on Tuesday (18). A day earlier, moderate Ulf Kristersson was made prime minister of the Nordic country after forming a coalition with three other parties, including the far-right Sweden Democrats.
The diplomatic status of the Nordic nation was established in 2014 by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margot Wallström, and was intended to encompass globally the promotion of economic emancipation, the fight against sexual violence and the increase of women’s political participation.
Since it came into force, the measure has been praised by feminist activists, despite rising tensions with Middle Eastern countries. In 2015, for example, Wallström’s critical remarks about women’s rights in Saudi Arabia prompted the Gulf nation to recall its ambassador to Stockholm.
In practice, it is difficult to measure the fruits of status in the period in which it was in force. In a 2018 document, Sweden pointed out that laws in Moldova and Somalia on the representation of women in politics were the fruit of feminist diplomacy, as well as the inclusion of gender equality principles in the peace agreement signed between the government of Colombia and the FARC in 2016.
The policy would also have contributed to new legislation in about 20 countries, often related to gender-based violence, female genital mutilation and child marriage.
Although there is no consensual definition of what constitutes a feminist foreign policy, the UN stipulates that at least seven other countries have similar actions: Canada, France, Mexico, Spain, Luxembourg, Germany and Chile. The Netherlands and Belgium, according to the United Nations, are in the process of reorienting their diplomacy. At the same time, the last Swedish government had announced, in January, the creation of a group of 16 countries with feminist diplomacy.
This Tuesday, it was up to the current Swedish chancellor, Tobias Billström, to announce the end of the title. According to him, “labels have a bad habit of prevailing over content”, although he stressed that “gender equality is a fundamental value in Sweden and for this government”. With 13 men and 11 women, the new Swedish government is no longer parity.
The influence of the far right in Swedish power may also have reverberated in the conduct of the country’s historic climate policies. Also this Tuesday, Kristersson announced that the Ministry of the Environment would no longer be an independent portfolio to be linked to the Ministry of Economy and Energy, led by the Christian Democratic Party.
The environmental portfolio, in any case, will be led by Romina Pourmokhtari, 26, the youngest ministerial minister in the country’s history, according to the British newspaper The Guardian. Of Iranian origin, she has until now led the center-right Youth Liberal Party and, in 2020, proposed a meat tax to help fight climate change.
In recent weeks, Pourmokhtari has openly criticized the Liberals’ rapprochement with the Swedish Democrats, supporters of anti-immigrant causes and against various green policies announced by the previous government.
In all, the new government will be composed of 12 moderate ministers – in addition to the prime minister himself –, six Christian Democrats and five liberals. The far right, on the other hand, will not lead ministries, although the Swedish Democrats will be present in all portfolios.
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