Sweden on Tuesday summoned Belarus' ambassador to Stockholm, after the Eastern European country last week asked for Swedish aid to be cut, a government official said.
State Secretary of International Development Cooperation Janine Alm Ericson told AFP that they had originally not been given any "direct reasons" when Belarus' foreign ministry requested that the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) should stop foreign aid efforts in the country.
However, Ericson said they regretted the Belarusian decision as "relations have deteriorated given the sanctions recently adopted by the EU."
After summoning and speaking to the Belarusian ambassador, Ericson said they had been informed the move was also due to Sweden putting projects involving Belarusian state actors on hold in August last year.
"But since they are choosing to do so right now when relations have deteriorated, we believe them to be related," Ericson said.
The European Union, United States, Britain and Canada sanctioned Belarus after a Ryanair passenger flight between European capitals was forced to land in late May in Minsk, where authorities detained opposition activist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend who were on board.
They were the latest in a series of penalties against President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for nearly three decades and clamped down on the opposition after mass protests erupted following disputed presidential elections last year.
In late June, Belarus suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership, an initiative to boost ties between the EU and its ex-Soviet neighbours, over the sanctions.
According to Ericson, Swedish aid to Belarus amounted to around 100 million Swedish kronor ($11.6 million, 9.9 million euros) per year for a variety of projects, such as environmental programmes and human rights initiatives.
