Sweden strengthens support for Ukraine – KyivPost
Sweden has continued to strongly support Ukraine in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion that began on February 24 this year.
According to the Ukrainian ambassador to Sweden, Andriy Plakotniuk, Sweden has contributed 395 million euros in military, economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the war began. In addition, Sweden has welcomed 42,000 Ukrainians and given them the status of “temporarily displaced persons”, giving them the opportunity to stay in the country. About a third, 13,000, of the Ukrainian refugees are children.
Sweden has given out a lot of public aid to Ukrainian refugees, including for living expenses and free use of various government services, such as museums.
Stockholm has been careful to help the newly arrived Ukrainians adapt, including helping them find jobs and for the children to continue learning. Since few Ukrainians, presumably, speak Swedish, grassroots efforts have been made to help Ukrainian children attend summer camps and other events so they can begin learning the language before the new school year begins next month.
According to the ambassador, there have been five defense support packages from Sweden to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began, including various types of economic, financial and humanitarian assistance. It is expected that Sweden will provide more support to Ukraine in the near future.
The optimistic outlook for future cooperation was supported by statements from the Swedish Defense Minister, who said his nation plans to work with Ukraine on training for Ukrainian military members, using Swedish companies to produce high-quality defense equipment for Ukraine, and conducting training for the Ukrainian military’s officials.