…It is no secret that there are tensions in our region today which were not there a few years’ ago. And it is no secret that our countries have different views on certain international affairs.
However, the Swedish people and the Russian people have one very strong interest in common: that of living together in peace. There is a lot we can do to minimise the risk of conflict and misunderstandings in our region. I would like to mention the notion of confidence building measures. Those of you who study international politics might know of it. To put it in simple terms, it is about ways to take away question marks and possible confusion about the behaviour of other countries.
A concrete example of this is when we invite observers to military exercises. The fact that we meet with our Russian colleagues is also a way of increasing confidence. And also here, I come back to the word ”cooperation”. Läs talet