On board the Gloria Ship, President Gustavo Petro and the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, signed the ‘Joint Declaration of the Sweden-Colombia Bilateral Association’, which marks a milestone in the relations of the two countries.
Prime Minister Kristersson highlighted the content of the agreement on aerospace technology, sustainable mining, sustainable transportation and aviation technology.
Stockholm, Sweden, June 13, 2024
President Gustavo Petro Urrego highlighted this Thursday that diplomatic relations with the Government of Sweden are focused on common issues of great interest to both nations, such as peace, the decarbonization of the economy and climate action.
“Here, on this flagship of the Colombian Navy, we signed this agreement of understanding celebrating a century and a half of diplomatic relations between the two peoples. “Yesterday we spoke with representatives of the Swedish Parliament and today with the King (His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden) and the Queen, and the two conversations revolved around the defense of life, overcoming the climate crisis and peace,” he stated. .
The president made the statement aboard the ARC Gloria Training Ship of the National Navy, in a joint statement with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, after the signing of the ‘Joint Declaration Bilateral Association Sweden – Colombia’, which marks a milestone in the relations of the two countries.
He added that both democracy, social justice and peace are synonymous in Swedish and Colombian history.
The head of state regretted that the world is mired in war situations, instead of working together to face the climate crisis.
“The situation in the world today does not wait. “We are wasting time in wars, when we need to overcome humanity’s worst problem, which is the climate crisis,” he noted.
He reiterated that it is time for the people of Sweden and Colombia to join forces and pool knowledge regarding the generation of clean energy, in order to decarbonize the world’s economies and take care of the Amazon rainforest and the oceans.
He also referred to the authority that the governments of Colombia and Sweden have to speak to the world about the need for peace.
“In Colombia there has been contemporary violence. And Sweden experienced it before. From that experience in history, which is terrible, we can speak about peace to the world. I hope we do it in these 150 years of diplomatic relations,” said the president of Colombia.
President Gustavo Petro visited the ARC Gloria Training Ship of the National Navy, which arrived in Stockholm this week.
Sweden highlights issues of the agreement
For his part, the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, described the signing of the bilateral agreement between the two nations as “excellent” and “historic.”
“This agreement highlights very important areas for further cooperation. For example, aerospace technology, sustainable mining, sustainable transportation, aviation technology, as well as long-standing support for the Colombian peace process,” he said.
“This bilateral agreement highlights the ties we have in our friendship and the bilateral desire to collaborate for the mutual benefit of both nations. Not only to help, but to increase the efforts we have between the two countries,” he concluded.
The four points of the Declaration
On the occasion of the celebration of 150 years of bilateral relations in 2024, President Petro and Prime Minister Kristersson signed the Joint Declaration of the Sweden – Colombia Bilateral Association, which has four points:
• Political dialogue and cooperation in multilateral forums
• Trade, development cooperation and triple helix collaboration
• Climate, environment, green and digital transformation
• Peace and security
See the full document here.
(Fin/mha/fca)
