Sweden ditches 'feminist foreign policy'
Sweden's new right-wing government said Tuesday it was ditching the country's pioneering "feminist foreign policy", launched by the left-wing in 2014, saying the label could be counter-productive. New Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom announced the move just moments after Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson presented his new government, backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats for the first time. The "feminist foreign policy" concept has been copied by several countries but also ruffled feathers in others, notably in the Middle East. Former foreign minister Margot Wallstrom coined the term in 2014, placing gender equality at the heart of Sweden's international agenda. Its goals included the promotion of economic emancipation, fighting sexual violence and improving women's political participation. "Gender equality is a fundamental value in Sweden and also a fundamental value for this government", Billstrom, of the conservative Moderates party, told Swedish news agency TT on Tuesday. "But we're not going to use the expression 'feminist foreign policy' because labels on things have a tendency to cover up the content", he said. Various publications on the subject were in the process of being taken down from the foreign ministry's website on Tuesday. Billstrom said there would be no major changes to Sweden's other foreign policy dossiers, such as the country's historic Nato application process. (AFP)