Sweden to close embassy in Manila

**knight23** · November 26th, 2007 06:02 AM

STOCKHOLM, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Swedish Foreign Ministry is planning to shut down four more of its embassies, Radio Sweden reported on Friday.

It quoted an unconfirmed report as saying that the embassies to be closed are the ones in Vientiane in Laos, Manila in The Philippines, Colombo in Sri Landka and Luanda in Angola.

The cause of the shutting down comes from financial consideration, a member of the Swedish parliament said. The Swedish Foreign Ministry is reshuffling its budget as new embassies are to be built in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan.

Only two days ago the Swedish government decided to phase out Sweden's embassies in Nicaragua and Botswana and the Swedish Consulates-General in Gdansk of Poland and Phuket of Thailand. The government would make further decisions on changes to Sweden's foreign representation, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_7092333.htm

This will affect 17000 filipinos here in sweden...

**wildthing** · November 26th, 2007 06:16 AM

but you can still get your visas on nearby countries like singapore perhaps di ba? Don't they do online visa application and approval?

**VtEC** · November 26th, 2007 06:56 AM

Originally Posted by knight23

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20...nt_7092333.htm

This will affect 17000 filipinos here in sweden...

bakit naman maaapektuhan kung andyan na sila sa sweden?diba dpat ang apektado yong nasa pinas pa?

**jiyumaico** · November 26th, 2007 07:09 AM

in some way i guess affected sila, dahil pag umuwi yung mga yun, gugustuhin pa rin nilang bumalik uli sa sweden, kaya they have to go to nearby countries pa para mag apply ng visa.

**knight23** · November 26th, 2007 02:01 PM

diplomatic relations is a two way street...

so most likely, the philippine embassy here will also close down or something(not sure, wasn't really listening to the discussion...)

**knight23** · December 27th, 2007 03:56 AM

2007-12-19
Closing of the Embassy

The Swedish government has decided to close its Embassy in Manila. The decision will be effective 30 June 2008 at the latest.

After the closure, applications for visas will be handled by another Schengen Embassy in Manila. An honorary consulate will be established to provide basic consular support to Swedish citizens. Other duties, such as commercial and political issues, will be handled by another Swedish embassy in the region through accreditation. Until further notice, the Embassy will perform its duties as usual. This website will be continuously updated with information about possible changes to our routines as a consequence of the decision.

The decision to close the Embassy is part of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ continuous review of its organisation abroad and assessment of its status in relation to changes in the surrounding world and changing requirements for monitoring and service. This is an ongoing process which sometimes leads to Sweden opening new or closing existing embassies and consulates. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs must also adapt its organisation abroad to its budget and meet the demands for streamlining that apply to all ministries and government agencies. More information regarding the background for the decision can be found on www.ud.se.

http://www.swedenabroad.com/News____...?slaveid=69592

Sweden phases out three embassies
Today the Government decided to phase out three of Sweden's embassies. The three are the embassies in Angola, Philippines and Laos.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs continuously reviews its organisation abroad and assesses its status in relation to external changes and changing requirements for monitoring and service. This means that over time Sweden opens new or closes existing embassies and consulates. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs must also adapt its organisation abroad to its budget and live up to the efficiency objectives that apply to all ministries and government agencies.

...

Philippines
Sweden's embassy to the Philippines mainly works on promoting Swedish exports and helping Swedish companies to compete for contracts in the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Swedish exports to the Philippines account for about 0.07 per cent of all Swedish exports and Sweden has a small share of ADB contracts. In connection with the Government's review of development cooperation in 2007 it was decided to end Sweden's bilateral development assistance to the Philippines. Sida has been instructed to draft a phase-out plan. An honorary consulate will be opened to give service to Swedish citizens. The embassy is expected to close by 30 June 2008 at the latest.

...

http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/9881/a/94748