Kingdom of Sweden

Sweden is located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe, bordering the North and Baltic Seas. It is bordered by Norway to the west and by Finland to the northeast. Denmark lies to the southwest, across the Straits of Öresund, Kattegat and Skagerrak. Since 2000, a bridge in Öresund links Malmö, in Sweden, and Copenhagen, in Denmark.

With an area of 450,000 sq km, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by land area. However, with just 10.2 million people, the country has a low population density (around 22 people per kilometer). The majority of the population lives in the south, where the climate is milder. The capital, Stockholm, is the largest city in the country. The official language is Swedish.

The friendship between Brazil and Sweden is rooted in the ties between the Brazilian and the Swedish Royal Families (Amélie of Leuchtenberg, second wife of Emperor Pedro I, was the sister of Queen Josephine of Sweden, consort of King Oscar I of Sweden) and the establishment of a Swedish settlement in Brazil in the late 19th century.

Brazil and Sweden established diplomatic relations in 1826. The first Swedish immigrants arrived in 1890. In 1909, the first regular shipping line between the two countries was established. Ericsson was a pioneer among Swedish companies to invest in Brazil in 1924. Investments increased and diversified from 1946 onwards, concentrating in São Paulo, where the Swedish-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce was established in 1953.

The State visit of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia to Brazil in 1984 elevated the bilateral relationship. At the time, the Agreement on Economic, Industrial and Technological Cooperation was signed, and the Bilateral Joint Commission was created.

Since then, visits and contacts between Brazilian and Swedish authorities have been frequent. The presence of nearly 220 Swedish companies in Brazil, the volume of the bilateral trade, and the flows of Swedish investments and tourists to Brazil add dynamism to Brazil-Sweden relations.

Over the last years, Brazil and Sweden have established a Strategic Partnership with regular visits of Ministers and other senior officers, increased high-level bilateral contacts on the sidelines of multilateral events, and the creation or re-establishment of several bilateral cooperation mechanisms. The Partnership between the two countries gained unprecedented visibility as the Gripen NG project started in 2014.

The official visit of then President Dilma Rousseff, in October 2015, as well as the state visit of then President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in September 2007, and his trip to Stockholm to take part in the Brazil-EU Summit, in October 2009, renewed mutual interest in deepening both political dialogue and economic cooperation.

In addition, then Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt’s visit to Brazil in May 2011 and Prime Minister Stefan Löfven’s attending to 2015 presidential inauguration also contributed to strengthening bilateral relations. Finally, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia made an official visit to Brazil in April 2017, on the occasion of the Global Child Forum and of the meeting of the Brazil-Sweden Council of Business Leaders, in São Paulo. During the visit, the Swedish monarchs met with President Michel Temer and the First Lady and were hosted in a banquet in their honor.

Other high-level visits helped strengthen ties between the two countries. In August 2012, by invitation of then Deputy Prime Minister Jan Björklund, President Michel Temer made an official visit to Sweden, accompanied by the Ministers of Sports and Strategic Affairs and the Speaker of the Lower House of Congress. In late August 2012, then Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota made a visit to Sweden, the first of its kind since 1992. In April 2014, then Minister of Defense Celso Amorim visited Sweden, accompanied by a large delegation including the Chief Minister of the Institutional Security Cabinet, the Commander of the Brazilian Air Force, and other military authorities. In 2015, then Minister of Defense Aldo Rebelo visited Sweden. Finally, in July 2017, then Minister of Defense Raul Jungmann paid a visit to that country.

In September 2019, during an unofficial visit to Sweden, Minister of Defense Fernando Azevedo e Silva took part in the delivery ceremony for the first of 36 Gripen NG fighter jets that will join the Brazilian Air Force. The event was held in the city of Linköping and was attended by Swedish senior authorities, including Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist, the President of SAAB, Håkan Buskhe, and Swedish Foreign Ministry officials. The program of the event also included an exhibition flight. The aircraft de facto handover is scheduled for October 2020.

Chronology of bilateral relations

1826 – Diplomatic relations between the Empire of Brazil and the Kingdom of Sweden are established

1876 – Emperor Pedro II visits Sweden

1953 – The Swedish-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce opens in São Paulo

1984 – State visit of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia

1995 – Brazil and Sweden join the Group of 16 to promote UN reform

1998 – Brazil and Sweden join the New Agenda Coalition for Disarmament

1998 – Royal Technology Mission to Brazil led by King Carl XVI Gustaf

2002 – President Fernando Henrique Cardoso attends a meeting on Progressive Governance in Stockholm, at the invitation of Prime Minister Göran Persson

2003 – Prime Minister Göran Persson attends the inauguration of President Lula

2006 – 2nd Meeting of the Brazil-Sweden Political Consultations, in Brasília. Opening of the Swedish Trade Council Office in São Paulo, in the presence of Crown Princess Victoria

2007 – State Visit of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Sweden

2008 – The President of the Swedish Parliament, Per Westerberg, visits Brazil

2008 – Queen Silvia visits Brazil to attend the 3rd World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, in Rio de Janeiro

2009 – President Lula visits Stockholm on the occasion of the Brazil-European Union Summit

2010 – Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt visits Brazil. The Swedish Royal Couple visits Brazil

2011 – Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt visits Brazil

2011 – Queen Silvia visits Brazil to attend a conference on the rights of the child held at the Brazilian Congress, sponsored by the UN

2012 – The President of the Swedish Parliament, Per Westerberg, visits Brazil

2012 – The King of Sweden and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt participate in the Rio+20 Conference

2012 – The Vice President of the Republic, Michel Temer, visits Sweden

2012 – The Speaker of the Lower House of Congress, Marco Maia, visits Sweden

2012 – Minister of Foreign Affairs Antônio de Aguiar Patriota visits Sweden [Documents signed]

2012 – Minister of Defense Karin Enström visits Brazil

2013 – Parliamentary mission headed by the President of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Commission of the Senate, Ricardo Ferraço, and the President of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Commission of the Lower House of Congress, Nelson Pellegrino, visits Sweden

2013 – Mission of King Carl XVI Gustaf and the Royal Academy of Engineering to São Paulo, Curitiba, and Rio de Janeiro

2014 – Minister of Defense Celso Amorim visits Sweden, accompanied by the Chief of the Institutional Security Office, the Commander of the Brazilian Air Force, and other authorities

2014 – Signing of a trade agreement between SAAB and the Brazilian Air Force Command on the acquisition and joint development of 36 Gripen NG fighters, within the scope of the FX-2 project

2015 – Minister of Industry and Innovation Mikael Damberg visits Brazil accompanied by a business delegation

2015 – Opening of the Brazilian Defense Attaché Office in Sweden

2015 – The President of the Superior Electoral Court, José Antonio Dias Toffoli, and the President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federal Senate, Aloysio Nunes Ferreira, visit Sweden on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)

2015 – President Dilma Rousseff visits Sweden

2017 – The King and the Queen of Sweden visit Brazil

2017 – Minister of Defense Raul Jungmann visits Sweden

2019 – Minister of Defense Fernando Azevedo e Silva visits Linköping to attend the ceremony of delivery of the first of the 36 Gripen fighters to the Brazilian Air Force and to meet with Sweden’s Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist

2019 – The 2nd edition of the Brazil-Sweden Innovation Week is held in Stockholm