About the Embassy

In June 1995, at the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Sweden opened an embassy in Sarajevo, from 1996 with a permanent staff. A new embassy was inaugurated in 1997. Today the embassy employs 10 Swedish and 15 local staff. The Swedish presence in BiH is a result of a longstanding engagement in the country and in the region. Initially the focus was on assisting BiH after the war but over time it has shifted more towards supporting BiH:s ambitions to become a member of the European Union.

The Swedish staff consists of an Ambassador, a Counsellor and a first Secretary for cooperation and assistance, a Counsellor for administrative, consular and cultural questions, a first Secretary for political and economical questions, media relations and commercial questions, a second Secretary for migration and a third Secretary for passport, archive, communication and information questions. In addition there is a liaison officer for police and customs affairs and a defence attaché with one assistant, all three of whom are accredited in Sarajevo but stationed in Belgrade.

The Embassy lies in a renovated late 19th century building situated by the city's largest central pedestrian street. The premises are shared between the Swedish and the Norwegian embassies.

Embassy priorities

Apart from regular diplomatic and consular matters much emphasis is now placed upon BiH:s integration into the EU. Next year particular responsibility is placed on Sweden and its embassies abroad as Sweden assumes the EU Presidency from July to December 2009.

As one of the largest bilateral donors to BiH, Sweden is focusing its cooperation and development programme on 1) state-building and good governance in order to strengthen democracy and institutional capacity, and 2) economic development, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and rural development. Sweden cooperates with capable Bosnian partners and with other donor countries in order to make the development projects more efficient and to maximise the impact on the development of BiH.

The embassy has an important assignment in developing the bilateral contacts at official as well as personal levels with all segments of BiH society. The embassy observes and reports on developments in BiH, thus providing input to Swedish foreign policy decisions on a bilateral level as well as in the multilateral field, especially in the EU context, but also with regard to the UN and NATO.

During the war in BiH 1992-1995, Sweden offered permanent residence to approximately 60 000 refugees, many of whom still reside in Sweden. This diaspora has the potential to greatly facilitate further bilateral cooperation between BiH and Sweden. It also explains why migration and citizenship issues continue to be of high importance in the daily work of the embassy.

Trade relations between Sweden and BiH as well as Swedish commercial activities in BiH are still relatively low but as the BiH economy is growing, enhanced bilateral exchange and increased commercial activities should be possible. Complementing the trade promotion activities of the Swedish Trade Council (located in Belgrade), a private Swedish-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce was established in BiH in 2005 (for further information visit www.chamber.ba).