SPECIAL INTERVIEW: Sweden's ambassador promises ongoing support to Liberia after embassy closure

Now, Sweden has closed its embassy in Liberia.

It's a topical issue.

People are talking about it.

One expert described it as a silent earthquake.

Just for the benefit of the public, why was that decision taken?

Um...

Of course, that is, as you said, that is really for us, Sweden here in Liberia, that is the main topical issue right now.

And the very short answer is that the decision was not in any way related to any policy or decisions or actions taken here in Liberia.

It is part of a restructuring process that Swedish foreign ministry missions are undergoing right now.

So we are actually closing embassies in several different countries.

It was a very tough decision.

This is not something we wanted to do, but we are in a position where development cooperation has been shrinking significantly.

At the same time, we also find ourselves in a situation where we need to put more of that development funding, which is a shrinking pie, devoted to Ukraine.

So that means that some very tough decisions had to be taken by the Swedish government.

And unfortunately, Liberia was identified as one of the countries where we are now closing.

And the other countries are Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Bolivia.

And in another country? In Tanzania.

In Tanzania, yes.

So Liberia isn't the only country, just for clarity.

No, absolutely not.

And again, I want to emphasize that this is not at all related to developments here in Liberia.

It's a decision that was very tough.

It's not something that we take lightly and seriously.

It was a headquarters decision in the end where it was decided that we need to focus and therefore close down some embassies.

So tough decisions with very significant and unfortunate consequences.