Sweden Ends Military Contract with Saudi Arabia for 'Human Rights' Reasons

The Swedish government announced on Tuesday, March 10, that it has ended its military contract with Saudi Arabia after facing severe domestic criticism and diplomatic considerations. According to Reuters, Peter Hultqvist, the Swedish Minister of Defense, stated in an interview with the state television network 'SVT' that 'military cooperation with Saudi Arabia effectively does not exist.' The memorandum between Sweden and Saudi Arabia allowed for the export of military systems, training, and technology transfer to the Arab country, but the Swedish Foreign Minister claims that such cooperation no longer exists. These remarks came after Saudi Arabia prevented Margot Wallström, the Swedish Foreign Minister, from speaking at an Arab countries meeting in Egypt. Following this meeting, Arab countries agreed to condemn Wallström's speech in the Swedish Parliament as well. In January, the Swedish Foreign Minister stated that women's rights are violated in Saudi Arabia. She also criticized the flogging sentence of a Saudi blogger and referred to the Saudi regime as a dictatorship. The Foreign Minister's reference to the flogging sentence concerns the case of Raif Badawi, a Saudi blogger and political activist who was sentenced to a thousand lashes for insulting Islam and endured 50 lashes every Friday due to this sentence. However, following protests from the U.S., the United Nations, and the European Union, Saudi officials announced last month that they would stop flogging Mr. Badawi for medical reasons. He had set up a website for discussion and exchange of ideas with Suad al-Shammari, a women's rights activist. The military contract between Saudi Arabia and Sweden was signed in 2005 and revised in 2010. Swedish companies earned a net income of $561 million from this contract between 2011 and 2014. The announcement of the end of this contract comes as its term is set to expire in May this year, and it could have been extended for another five years. Meanwhile, AFP reported, citing Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, that 'the contract has been canceled.' Saudi Arabia is the third-largest non-Western arms buyer from Sweden.