Sweden highlights commitment, friendship with Egypt in its National Day

CAIRO – 8 June 2929: The Kingdom of Sweden celebrated its National Day on Saturday the 6th of June ‘virtually’ by broadcasting a 24 -hour online live event hosted by the Swedish Institute in Stockholm and shared by all the Swedish missions across the globe.

The event has been reached by more than 450,000 viewers who follow the official page of Sweden in Arabic.

The livestream included speeches from Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess and her family as well as the Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. The event moreover offered a unique Swedish experience by presenting a mix of musical performances guided tours of several museums, cultural events, at-home greetings and several traditional Swedish food recipes executed by well-known chefs.




The Embassy of Sweden in Egypt also celebrated the National Day by highlighting the prosperous relationship between Egypt and Sweden, made possible together with its friends and partners from the Egyptian government, NGO’s and the private sector.

As a part of the celebrations, the Embassy posted a special video message from H.E. Jan Thesleff, Ambassador of Sweden to Egypt, on its Facebook page. The video also included messages from Egyptian partners, showcasing what Sweden stands for and its main set of priorities, such as gender equality, sustainability, innovation and entrepreneurship.

The messages from the partners of Sweden included the former Foreign Minister and legendary Diplomat Dr Amre Moussa, H.E. Dr Maya Morsy, the President of the National Council for Women, H.E. Ashraf Swelam, the Director of the Cairo Center for Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping, Ms Sawsan Mourad, the Editor in Chief of El Beit Magazine, and Ms Rawan Bassam, Program Manager at Enpact startups.

The video moreover highlights the key events the Embassy has hosted and participated in over the past year.




“Every year, we celebrate this day together with our Egyptian partners and friends in our Embassy, but this year is special. COVID-19 is putting stress on our societies. We cannot always interact the way we are used to, the way we want to. We must be more creative, more innovative. Two areas, where Sweden globally has been excelling,” said Ambassador Thesleff.

The Ambassador addressed the ongoing cooperation and bilateral exchange between Egypt and Sweden saying that “Exchange is about people”. “There are 15 000 Egyptians are working directly for Swedish companies and many more indirectly. Around 120 000 Swedish tourists visited Egypt this season. And 217 Egyptian Post-Grad Students have been accepted by Swedish universities for the coming Academic Year,” he said.

Ambassador Thesleff continued by saying “Physically or digitally - the values and the importance of our National day remain the same. Unity and solidarity are two important lessons from the COVID-19 crisis and social distancing does not mean that we won’t stick together and support one another”.