Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, right, is greeted by European Council President Charles Michel prior to a bilateral meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Credit: Virginia Mayo/AP
Sweden in 'frugal four' EU budget restraint plea
The leaders of the 27 member states are in Brussels to try and negotiate an agreement on the EU's next long-term budget.
Sweden, as part of a 'frugal four' of net contributors including Austria, Netherlands and Denmark, want the bloc's future budget plans to be governed by restraint, following the 'hole' left by Brexit.
However, a larger number of member states who are net beneficiaries want to keep high spending on agriculture and infrastructure.
We spoke to Andreas Liljeheden, Swedish Radio's EU correspondent who is in Brussels, to examine what is at stake for Sweden during the tough negotiations.
