Sweden said it will cut assistance to four African nations and Bolivia starting next year
Sweden will discontinue aid to Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Liberia and Bolivia, and redirect the funds to Ukraine, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa has announced.
During a press conference on Friday, Dousa said that assistance worth approximately 2 billion kronor ($212 million) will be cut starting August 31, 2026.
The minister said that while the “financial pressure is enormous… it is our duty and obligation to support Ukraine.”
“There isn’t a secret printing press for banknotes for aid purposes and the money has to come from somewhere,” he added.
According to Dousa, the Swedish embassies in Bolivia, Liberia and Zimbabwe, whose main focus is providing aid, will also be closed.
Commenting on Stockholm’s decision, Cecilia Chatterjee-Martinsen, international director of Save the Children Sweden, warned of potentially “catastrophic consequences for the poorest people in the world.”
Last month, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte revealed that several member states, including Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, would jointly provide a €430 million ($500 million) military package for Ukraine.
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