Sweden’s Ambassador to the Caribbean, Claes Hammar says his country is looking forward to receiving an indication of demands from the the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Slavery Reparations Committee, as the region seeks reparation for the slave trade.

“We only recently heard that we were mentioned among the European countries that the reparations committee is looking at filing a claim for compensation to. We’ll look at the claim when we receive it,” Hammar told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

He said Sweden was open to looking at possibilities and not likely to be influenced by other European countries’ stance on reparations.

“I don’t think Sweden will be influenced. Usually we are careful to follow domestic Swedish law on international matters,” he said.

Hammar had earlier this week told a Swedish journalist that he was not surprised Sweden had been included in the list.

“Sweden did after all have a colony in the Caribbean –St. Barths- so it's not wrong for us to be a part of the discussion," he was quoted as saying...CONTINUES...

Marvin Hokstam

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Tuesday December 17, 2013, CMC