On September 18, 2022, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the Swedish Embassy, Jörgen Persson, visited ECFA, accompanied by: Usama Butt (British of Pakistani origin), Director of the Institute for Islamic Strategic Affairs in the United Kingdom; Dr. Talip kucukcan, former member of the Turkish parliament and professor at Marmara University; Dr. Mohamed Abdul Rahman Baharoon, Director of the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre; Nora Rathje, member of the Swedish Embassy in Cairo. The visit came with a prior arrangement with the Swedish Embassy, with the aim of identifying the Council members’ vision of the draft “Charter of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in the Middle East”, which was prepared by a group of researchers, including the visiting team.

In his speech, the Minister Plenipotentiary of the Swedish Embassy indicated that his country has undertaken to support this project since 2016, due to its full conviction of the importance of security and stability in the Middle East region and the need to create a regional structure to coordinate security and cooperation between the countries of the region, including Israel, Türkiye and Iran, alike the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. He added that besides the fact that Swedish society includes many people from the Middle East, no one can argue with Sweden’s sympathy for the cause of the Palestinian people, which was embodied in the recognition of the Palestinian state, and the provision of what it can to the Palestinian people in the field of development aid.

On its part, ECFA affirmed that it is difficult to find common denominators with the Israeli far right, and instead, we must work to involve moderate Israelis in this dialogue, including movements calling for peace and putting an end to the Israeli occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories and the Syrian and Lebanese territories.