Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband Prince Daniel have held a digital meeting with representatives from the Swedish Institute. During the meeting, on December 1st 2020, the Crown Princess and Prince Daniel were given an update on the image of Sweden abroad and on the Institute’s current issues due to the pandemic.
The meeting, with the Director-General of the Institute, Madeleine Sjöstedt, also saw the royals chat to Sofia Bard and Emma Jansson, about their experiences in the pandemic. This meeting was a follow-up to one that took place between the Crown Princess and the Institute in April this year.
On 16 April, the Crown Princess and Prince Daniel held digital meetings with the Swedish Institute and Professor Lars Trägårdh to receive updated information about the Covid-19 pandemic. The couple then also talked to Professor Lars Trägårdh, who is researching trust. Under the prevailing circumstances, when everyday life changes for many people, Trägårdh reported on how trust and confidence in social institutions are affected in different ways and for the outside world’s view of Sweden’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Swedish Institute works to increase interest and strengthen confidence in Sweden abroad. One of the institute’s main assignments is also about following and analysing how Sweden is perceived abroad. Within its framework is the examination of the image of Sweden in different parts of the world.
The Crown Princess has a long tradition of collaborating with the Swedish Institute and being updated by the Institute with information on how Sweden is perceived in the world. The head of the Institute and representatives have been received in audience with the Crown Princess at the palace in Stockholm many times in recent years.
Sweden’s response to the pandemic has been the subject of intense international debate and has led to some friction between the Kingdom of Sweden and its immediate neighbours, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Denmark and the Republic of Finland. The fear of imported Covid-19 infection from Sweden to other European nations has been great and there are still closed and guarded borders between Sweden and all the nation’s neighbouring countries.
