When Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard presented Sweden’s foreign policy strategy for the year to the parties in the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament) this week, she abandoned the cautious diplomatic tone and instead put on the boxing gloves.
She strongly criticized the United States while unequivocally supporting Denmark and Greenland.
»It is clear that the United States is increasingly behaving in a way that undermines trust and contradicts Europe’s values of global cooperation and international law,« she said in her speech in the Riksdag, clearly referring to President Trump, and continued:
»Let me emphasize what is obvious: Sweden will not compromise on our neighbors’ territorial integrity. Only Denmark and Greenland have the authority to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.«
Her remarks drew attention in several Swedish media outlets.
’The foreign minister suddenly spoke with a clear voice,’ wrote Aftonbladet in a headline, while Sveriges Radio’s domestic political commentator, Fredrik Furtenbach, noted that Trump now »casts his shadow over the Swedish government’s foreign policy.«
He pointed out that the Swedish government did not express similar criticism of the United States when it published its foreign policy strategy for 2025 last year, and that the Trump administration’s desire to acquire Greenland has led to a fundamental shift in the perception of the United States.
Thus, the Swedish government is now aligned with the Danish government, where Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) recently sharpened her rhetoric against the United States at the security conference in Munich earlier this month. Additionally, a new security policy analysis by former top Danish diplomat Michael Zilmer-Johns this week also noted that Trump’s attacks on Denmark and Greenland have accelerated the structural change processes in the relationship with the United States.
United front against the United States
Jonas Hinnfors, a professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg, believes that all parties in the Riksdag now share the changed view of the United States. Therefore, he does not expect the tougher foreign policy stance towards the Trump administration to cause political turmoil in Sweden. Even the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna), who previously showed sympathy for Trump’s Maga movement, have begun to hold back their support for him, and at the same time, the public’s attitude towards the United States has become significantly more negative, according to Jonas Hinnfors.
However, he warns against assuming that Swedish support for Denmark and Greenland is merely a result of brotherly love.
»You shouldn’t exaggerate the idea of Nordic solidarity,« he says, pointing out that Denmark and Sweden took very different paths during COVID.
He believes that the Swedish government is primarily acting based on national self-interest.
»Trump represents a policy where the strong have the right to dictate to the weak. This makes a relatively small state like Sweden feel somewhat under attack. For Sweden, it is crucial to uphold international law and the international order,« says Jonas Hinnfors.
In this context, Denmark and Greenland have become a symbol of Trump’s bulldozer tactics, according to him.
»Therefore, the Swedish government now feels a need to draw a line and say: this is the red line for what we will accept,« he says, noting that the government also views Trump’s behavior in light of the war in Ukraine.
»Russia has invaded Ukraine in violation of every principle of international law. Now Trump is threatening to do the same to Greenland and Denmark. At first, the Swedish government may have held back a bit in its criticism of Trump—which is normal in diplomacy, where you don’t always say what you think—but developments have now reached a point where the government finds it necessary to speak up,« says Jonas Hinnfors.
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