Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs (, UD) is a ministry in the Government of Sweden responsible for policies related to foreign policy, democracy, human rights, international development cooperation and foreign trade. The ministry is currently headed by the minister for foreign affairs, Tobias Billström of the Moderate Party. History The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was added in 1791, when Gustav III established the King's Cabinet for Foreign Correspondence. The organization that was formally named the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1840 was then created in practice. It is possible to speak of a foreign administration to the function as soon as we can discern a Swedish central state administration, and from the end of the 13th century. Under Gustav Vasa, the chancellery developed into the body that handled and expedited government matters. With Gustav II Adolf's reforms in the 1620s, a specialization was carried out within the chancellery so that foreign affairs were distributed among secretaries according to country.