ArmInfo. Swedish Minister of International Cooperation Peter Eriksson will visit Armenia on March 21-22. On the eve of the visit, the Swedish government announced that it intends to increase financial support for Armenia, in response to a strong political will to undertake the necessary reforms after the 2018 velvet revolution.
This is stated in the statement of the Swedish Embassy in Armenia."After the" velvet revolution "and the change of power in 2018, an active democratization process began in Armenia. We see a strong political will to carry out the necessary reforms and strengthen democracy, freedom of expression and other fundamental rights and freedoms," the minister wrote in his article published in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
According to him, the fact that the number of women in the Armenian parliament has increased is one of many signs of a progressive movement towards change in the country. "Thus, this is the right moment for Sweden to increase its support and contribute to positive events in Armenia," he said, stressing that the launch of a bilateral development cooperation program with Sweden would mean an increase in funding for projects in Armenia.Today, Sweden supports several regional projects in the interests of Armenia and a small number of bilateral projects. According to the embassy, the projects cover important initiatives aimed at protecting the environment, expanding the political and economic rights and opportunities of women, and creating democratic, sustainable and well-functioning public institutions. These areas will continue to be important.Peter Eriksson also noted three priority areas in which Sweden supports democratization processes in Eastern Europe. This is, first of all, the fight against corruption and the creation of relevant institutions. Secondly, the protection of human rights, the elimination of discrimination and violence against organizations that work on the rights of women and the LGBT community. And third, support free and independent media.