Saudi Arabia recalls ambassador from Sweden

The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirms that Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Stockholm, as a diplomatic row between the two countries keeps deepening.

A spokesman for Swedish Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the Saudi Kingdom has recalled its envoy from Stockholm, allegedly in protest at the Scandinavian country’s criticism of the human rights situation in the Arab country.

Erik Boman said, however, that the two countries will continue their diplomatic relations, adding, "Diplomatic relations are not broken. But Saudi Arabia's ambassador has been recalled.”

According to Boman, Riyadh has informed Stockholm that it made the decision in protest to Sweden’s continued criticism of the monarchy’s record on democracy and human rights.

He added that Sweden is not planning to reciprocate the Saudi bid to recall its ambassador.

Controversial arms deal

The withdrawal of the Saudi ambassador came just hours after Sweden’s recent announcement that it will cancel a controversial arms deal with the kingdom.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (shown below) confirmed Tuesday that the arms deal which has caused controversy across the world should be terminated.

He denied, however, that the annulment of the military deal is related to Saudi Arabia’s cancellation of a speech by the Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström at an Arab league meeting on Monday.

Sources in the Arab League had confirmed that it was Riyadh that wanted the speech canceled.

“This has been agreed for some time now. It has nothing to do with what has happened in recent days,” Löfven added.

Wallström (pictured above) said Monday that her speech at the Arab League meeting in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, was canceled allegedly due to her criticism of the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, the most influential country in the Arab League. She described as a “shame” her blocking from the meeting. 

The Arab League had invited the Swedish official to give an address to the ministerial meeting of the organization in praise of Stockholm’s official decision to recognize Palestine as an independent state in October 2014.

The European Union (EU) has also expressed regret over the decision to block Wallström’s speech. “We regret that the Swedish foreign minister was not able to deliver her speech,” European Commission spokeswoman, Maja Kocijancic, said Tuesday.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry published the content of Wallström’s speech Tuesday, which showed the minister had neither criticized Saudi Arabia nor highlighted her alleged feminist foreign policy agenda.

In January, Wallström criticized the Saudi kingdom for its harsh treatment of dissent and lashed out at a Saudi court for sentencing blogger, Raif Badawi, to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison just for criticizing Wahhabism.

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