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Paul Johnston

Ambassador to Ireland

Part of UK in Sweden

19th April 2013

UK and Sweden sign Defence MOU

Yesterday in London, Swedish Defence Minister Karen Enström and the UK Minister for International Security Strategy, Dr Andrew Murrison signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the UK and Sweden for Military Exercises and Training.
The main purpose of the MOU is to define the legal status of military personnel of one country when invited to participate in military training in the other. This enables mutual participation in the type of training that is required to develop interoperability, and aids sharing of knowledge and experience.
Over recent years the Swedish military has become more involved in international coalition operations, including in Kosovo, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and Libya – often alongside UK forces.
Although there has always been a strong equipment and R&D-based defence relationship between our two countries, working alongside one another on expeditionary operations has also reinforced our mutual respect for each other’s respective capabilities.
The signing of this MOU is a statement of our joint commitment to that relationship and lays the foundation for the development of cooperation in a post-ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) era.
Special guest blog by:

Wing Commander Donald Turnbull, Defence Attaché to Sweden & Finland

1 comment on “UK and Sweden sign Defence MOU”

  1. Hello Paul and Nicola!
    Just thought about you both. Decided to look you up on the Web, well what a lovely picture.Hope you are doing well. We have returned to the UK having stayed for a while in NZ where we are now permanent residents. So, will return one day.
    Take care to you both,
    Clare and David x

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About Paul Johnston

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially. He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide…

Paul Johnston joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, working for the Ministry of Defence initially.

He has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide range of political and security roles in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. Paul joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1993 as Desk Officer for Bosnia. As part of this role he was also Private Secretary to EU negotiator Lord Owen and his representative on Bosnia Contact Group.

His first foreign posting was to Paris in 1995-99 as Second Secretary Political. He was Private Secretary to the Ambassador and latterly part of the UK delegation to the Kosovo Rambouillet negotiations. Then he returned to London as Head of the Kosovo Policy Team, leading work on post-conflict policy in the EU, NATO, UN and G8.

Before his second overseas posting to New York in 2005, Paul held a variety of other EU policy and security appointments in London, such as Head of European Defence Section between 2000-01 and Head of Security Policy Department between 2002-04.

As Head of the Political Section in UKMIS New York, he advised on major policy issues for the UK on the Security Council and the UN World Summit, including the UK EU Presidency in 2005.

Paul returned to London in 2008 as Director, International Security for the FCO. He was responsible for policy on UN, NATO, European Security, arms control and disarmament, human rights and good governance.

Paul was British Ambassador to Sweden from August 2011 to August 2015 and then was Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO.

He was UK Ambassador to the EU for Political and Security affairs from 2017 to January 2020 and became Ambassador to Ireland in September 2020.

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