Then the pandemic can affect the Swedish image

Sweden's reputation, or brand, is considered important for international relations and trade. With the corona, the Swedish Institute, which is tasked with monitoring how Sweden is perceived as a country, has intensified its work and comes up with a new report every week on how foreign media report on Sweden and corona.

- There is a lot more reporting on Sweden than usual. It is mainly in the large media houses that have a strong impact that Sweden is seen in a different way than before, says Madeleine Sjöstedt, Director General of the Swedish Institute and former mayor of the Liberals in the City of Stockholm.

The Swedish Institute monitors media in twelve different language areas, and Sweden's unusual way of dealing with the corona virus has been noticed everywhere. Most often it is in a neutral way, but there are also many articles and elements that are negatively charged and critical. It is about why Sweden stands out, pictures of how "everything is as usual in Sweden" and theories about what is likely to happen due to or because of the Swedish strategy. The words "experiment" and "open" are often used. 

- We saw a few weeks ago that Germany had many negative articles about Sweden. In Italy, too, there has been a lot. And, above all, our neighbors in the Nordic countries have a critical or pending attitude to the Swedish strategy, says Madeleine Sjöstedt.

By extension, this can lead to negative effects, especially with regard to relations with our neighboring countries, she says.

Swedish politicians and experts such as Foreign Minister Ann Linde (S), Prime Minister Stefan Lövfen (S) and state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell are also given more space in influential, international media.

According to the Swedish Institute, Sweden is generally perceived as an equal, environmentally conscious and democratic country with a strong rule of law. But Sweden is also a country that stands out in several contexts and measurements - not least on the political GAL-TAN scale.

Historically, the image of Sweden often ticks into both horror and utopia - a social experiment with totally liberated residents harboring a blind trust in the state, or a social democratic dream society.

- That's how it has traditionally been around Sweden. For example, Bernie Sanders painted Sweden as a complete utopia during the 2016 US election campaign, while Donald Trump had a very skeptical view of Sweden.

Madeleine Sjöstedt says that it is not uncommon for the image of Sweden to be used to make points or illustrate in different ways. Therefore, she thinks it is important to show a picture of how things really are in Sweden, something that the Swedish Institute also works with.

But there can be problems in Sweden, too, and you do not know which way in corona management is right. How do you relate to that?

- We are a government agency and we are going to convey facts. We have absolutely no opinion on the path Sweden has chosen, whether pandemic management is right or wrong. And maybe nobody knows, says Madeleine Sjöstedt.