French-Swedish relations

In 799, one of the first contacts between the countries took place during the Viking raid on the northern coast of France. In March 845, the legendary Danish-Swedish king Ragnar Lodbrock navigated 120 ships on the Seine River to besiege Paris . The Vikings lifted the siege of Paris after a month of fighting, when the king of the West Frankish king Charles II Lysy paid them 7,000 pounds of silver and gold. In 911, after numerous Viking attacks, the king of the West Frankish king Charles III of Rusty ceded them the city of Saint-Clair-sur-Apt. ^{[1] [2]} .

In 1499, countries signed the Trade Agreement, according to which Sweden supplied France with hides, furs, oil, fish, tar, wood for the Navy, iron and copper. Instead, the French put salt, wheat, wine, canvas, spices. In 1631, during the Thirty Years War, France and Sweden signed the Berwald Treaty , which obliged the Swedes to support an army of 36,000 troops, and the French provided economic assistance in the amount of 400,000 Reichstallers in return. In the 1700s, French culture and the French language began to exert a great influence on the Swedish monarchy: King Gustav III of Sweden was educated in France. Sweden created the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on the model of the French Academy of Sciences ^{[2] [3]} .

In 1805, Sweden entered the Third Coalition War and fought against the French in the Franco-Swedish War . The war continued until January 1810, when Sweden was defeated by France and, as a result, the countries signed the Paris Peace Treaty . In the same year, Marshal of France Charles XIV Johan (one of the companions of the French Emperor Napoleon I ) was elected heir to the childless King of Sweden Charles XIII . Karl XIV Johan was elected partly because a large part of the Swedish army supported his candidacy, which was important because the battles with the Russian Empire were ahead, and also because of his mercy to the Swedish prisoners of war in Lübeck . However, in 1813, Charles XIV Johan opposed Napoleon I during the Sixth Coalition War , in which Napoleon I lost and was exiled to Elba Island in 1814. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden officially declared its neutrality in all possible future conflicts. In 1818, Charles XIV Johan was officially crowned and became king of Sweden, having founded the dynasty of Bernadotte , from which the current ruling Swedish royal family originates ^[4] .

Sweden maintained a policy of neutrality during World War I and World War II . During the Second World War, a Swedish diplomat born in France, Raul Nordling, secretly met with German General Dietrich von Holtitz to try to stop the bloodshed in Paris and save this city from destruction during the military operation of the anti-Hitler coalition forces ^[5] . After the end of World War II, France and Sweden joined the European Union . The leaders of both countries held many high-level bilateral meetings, and cooperation has also been established in multilateral organizations. About 15,000 Swedish citizens live in France and about 3,500 French people live in Sweden ^[2] .

There is no close cooperation between France and Sweden in the defense sphere, since Sweden prefers cooperation with neighboring countries. An example of interaction is the participation of the Swedish Air Force in the Intervention in Libya , in which French troops also participated. The Swedish military has repeatedly collaborated with French troops in Africa (especially during the campaign in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ), as well as UNIFIL and EUFOR ^[6] .

In 2015, trade between the countries amounted to 10 billion euros . In 2014, Sweden was the 16th largest partner of France and the 18th largest supplier of goods to this country. At the same time, France was Sweden's 8th largest partner and 9th largest supplier of goods. In 2013, France's foreign direct investment in Sweden amounted to € 3.3 billion and was concentrated primarily in the sectors of the agro-industrial complex, equipment and electrical goods. During the same period, Swedish foreign direct investment in France amounted to 5.2 billion euros, most of which came from the automotive industry. Swedish companies such as IKEA and Volvo have offices in France ^{[7] [8]} .

• France has an embassy in Stockholm ^[9] .
• Sweden maintains an embassy in Paris ^[10] .