Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

Magdalena Andersson, Swedish Prime Minister

Stockholm, Sweden

Adelcrantz Palace

PRIME MINISTER ANDERSSON:  So I would very much welcome you here in Stockholm.  I’m very happy you took your time to come here.  And United States and Sweden, we have longstanding bonds that are very important for Sweden, both for our security but also for our prosperity, and I look forward to having discussions with you on several global issues such as climate change, the pandemic – yeah – democracy, rules-based international order, but of course, also issues concerning our neighborhood here and the Baltic Sea – around the Baltic Sea.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Prime Minister, thank you so much.  Thank you first of all for receiving us on this day two and a half, as you said, so I’m honored to be able to spend some time with the prime minister.  And indeed, we’re so grateful for the partnership that unites the United States and Sweden.  We’re working together closely on all of these issues, particularly on ones that are really having an impact on the lives of our citizens, like COVID-19, like climate change, but also making sure that not only are our democracies resilient but democracies around the world are at a time of challenge to democracies.

We’re also grateful for Sweden’s leadership around the world, and that was manifested today at the OSCE meetings that you’ve been hosting and that Sweden’s been leading for the last year.  So I’m grateful to you for not just today but for every day, because the United States deeply values this partnership, and I look forward to talking about it.  Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER ANDERSSON:  Thank you.