From: Donga.com — “We have a historical duty to resist Russian power expansion and help Ukraine win the war.”
This statement came from Maria Malmer Stenergard, Sweden’s Foreign Minister, during a speech to the Swedish diplomatic corps last November. The following month, ahead of a NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting, she declared, “We must prepare for a long-term confrontation with Russia.”
Sweden officially joined NATO in March last year, abandoning its 210-year neutrality policy. The newly non-neutral nation was already issuing direct and hardline messages about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sweden’s foreign policy—advocating for NATO unity and full support for Ukraine—is now led by this 44-year-old minister. She took over last October after her predecessor finalized NATO membership. Stenergard is now making Sweden’s presence within NATO distinctly felt through her blunt statements.
● Blunt Rhetoric Asserts Presence: “Prepare for Long-Term Confrontation with Russia”
Born in 1981, Minister Stenergard followed an elite conservative political track. A member of the center-right Moderate Party, she entered parliament in 2014 and rose to foreign minister within ten years.
In October 2022, she was appointed Minister for Migration and Refugee Policy in Ulf Kristersson’s cabinet, tasked with implementing strengthened immigration restrictions while cooperating with the Sweden Democrats, a party with far-right origins.
Voice of Ukraine 