It was announced yesterday from Stockholm that the Swedish embassy in Luxembourg is due to close in June this year.

However the Grand Duchy's embassy, that opened its doors in 1996 will not be the only embassy to close.  Other closures will take place in Bratislava, Dakar, Dublin, Ljubljana and Sofia.

In a telephone interview with Station.lu  Councillor  for Luxembourg's Swedish embassy, Ola Pihlblad stated that the offices in the Grand Duchy will close in June but the service to the general public “will end sooner than that”, although was unable to say when exactly.  However he did point out that for the moment it is “business as usual”.

When asked about procedures for Swedish nationals living in Luxembourg  and where they must go once the embassy closes, Pihlblad stated “probably the Swedish embassy in Brussels, but this is still to be decided”.

At the same time as closing these embassies, Sweden has opened new, or upgraded existing embassies in several eastern European countries, West Africa, Cambodia and Bolivia.

Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt stated "We want to be where we make the best possible use of the money that a Swedish presence costs. It is positive that we can use our resources to strengthen Sweden's presence in a number of nearby countries".

A press release regarding the changes to Swedish embassies worldwide stated that “The Swedish Foreign Service changes with the world around it”.  It went on to say,  “with today's decision and announced changes, Sweden will have opened 40 missions abroad and closed 54 between 1990 and the end of 2010”.

Station has a list of embassies in Luxembourg.  For more info: Click here