The Embassy of Sweden in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

is the chief

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. It is located at 60

Mosfilmovskaya Street Mosfilmovskaya Street (, romanised: ''Mosfílmovskaya úlitsa''), formerly also Potylikha Street ({{langx, ru, Улица Поты́лиха), is a street in Ramenki District, West Administrative District, Moscow, where the Mosfilm Studios and ...

(), on the corner of Ulofa Palme Street (), in the

Ramenki District Ramenki District () is a district in the Western Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia, located approximately in the middle-southwest of the city. The Ramenki District's border runs along the axis of the Third Ring Road from ...

of Moscow.

History

Already in 1617, there were Swedish agents who had their own house in

. This was confiscated during the

Great Wrath The Great Wrath (, in contemporary sources: , ; ) was a period of Finnish history dominated by the Russian invasion and subsequent military occupation of Finland, then part of the Swedish Empire, from 1714 until the Treaty of Nystad (1721), ...

(1700–1721). In 1754,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

appointed a new commissioner. During the 18th and 19th centuries, a Swedish consulate was staffed intermittently. In 1872, an honorary consulate was finally established with the city as its district. In 1906, it became a career consulate and also covered the

governorates A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions o ...

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

Kostroma Kostroma (, ) is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma. In the 2021 census, the population is 267, ...

, Ufa,

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

Simbirsk Ulyanovsk,, , known as Simbirsk until 1924, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Ulyanovsk has been the only Russian UNESCO City of Literature since 2015. The city wa ...

Orenburg Orenburg (, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the ...

Penza Penza (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura (river), Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Russian census, 2010 Census, Penza had ...

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

Ryazan Ryazan (, ; also Riazan) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 C ...

, Tula,

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

Orel Orel (meaning ''eagle'' in some Slavic languages; also a common first name in Israel meaning ''Light of God'' in Hebrew) may refer to: People *Orel Hershiser (born 1958), American baseball pitcher * Orel Mangala (born 1998), Belgian footballer ...

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...

Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...

, and the "Land of the Ural Cossacks." In 1916, Moscow was elevated to a consulate general, but it was closed during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. In 1924, the diplomatic mission in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

was moved back to Moscow. During

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, all diplomatic missions in Moscow were transferred to the city of Kuibyshev. In 1947, the

legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...

in Moscow was elevated to an embassy.

Staff and tasks

The Swedish embassy in Moscow is one of Sweden's largest diplomatic missions. It represents Sweden and the Swedish government in Russia and works to promote Swedish interests. The embassy is organized into several key departments: *Economic Department: Monitors the economic situation in Russia, including the conditions for Swedish businesses. *Political Department: Responsible for reporting on the political landscape in Russia, including human rights issues, Russian foreign policy, and Russia–Sweden relations. *Migration Department: Handles applications for visas, residence permits, and work permits from Russian citizens and other legal residents of the Russian Federation. *Administrative Department: Supports the embassy with various practical and administrative tasks, and also includes a consular function that assists Swedish citizens in Russia, such as those who have lost their passports. *Cultural Department: Disseminates information about Sweden and engages in a wide range of cultural activities. *Defence Department: Monitors military and security developments in Russia.

Buildings

Chancery

In the 1910s, the embassy chancery was located at Anglijskaja Nabereschnaja 64 in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. In the early 1920s, it moved to Ulitza Vorovskij/Vorovskovo 44 in

. In 1964, the embassy moved to Ulitsa Pisemskovo 15. After many years of negotiations, the construction of a new Swedish embassy in Moscow could begin in July 1968. In 1972, it was ready for use on 60

. The embassy was designed by the Swedish architect Anders Tengbom. The embassy is a tight red brick building with a closed facade facing the street. The windows in the buildings are mainly located towards the garden. The architecture is reminiscent of the fact that the embassy was built during a time when security issues were central. But the closed, fortress-like façade would be compensated by the fact that it was possible to enter the embassy's courtyard and indoors with the help of bright interiors. After a serious incident in the 1980s, the embassy area had to be fenced off. In the courtyard, the sculpture "Gestalt i storm" by Bror Marklund dominates. The bricks for the facades were obtained from Forsa brickworks in

Bollebygd Bollebygd is a locality and the seat of Bollebygd Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 3,566 inhabitants in 2010. Between 1974 and 1994 it was in Borås Municipality Borås Municipality () is a municipality in Västra Götaland ...

. In the summer of 2002, a new visa chancery was inaugurated at the property, which was built to cope with the extended visa processing that followed the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

. The extension had the same exterior appearance as previous buildings. On the ground floor are the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

's archives and on the ground floor a modern office environment. A large lantern provides the visa office with extra daylight. The architect was Jesper Husman at Tengbom Arkitekter. File:Swedish Embassy Moscow.jpg, Embassy building in 2008 File:Sveriges Ambassad Moskva.jpg, Lesser coat of arms at the entrance

References

External links