Victor Yushchenko met with Swedish Premier Goran Persson, presidential press office reported. They discussed a wide range of issues, including ways to expand Ukraine's cooperation with Sweden with the framework of the EU, UNO, CBSS and other international organizations.
First Vice Prime Minister Stanislav Stashevsky, Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk, Secretariat Chief-of-Staff Oleh Rybachuk, Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko, Swedish Ambassador John-Christer Åhlander and Swedish State Secretary Lars Danielsson were present at the meeting.
At a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson, Victor Yushchenko said Ukraine appreciated its relations and cooperation with Sweden. He pointed out that during today’s meeting they had discussed a wide range of topics, particularly Ukrainian-Swedish cooperation within the framework of the EU.
“We appreciate our dynamic relations and thank Sweden for supporting our ambition to integrate into the EU. We hear these statements by Mr. Persson and his government. These are very important statements to us,” he said. 
The President also noted that the two countries were actively cooperating in the field of aircraft-building.
“We are convinced that our bilateral economic resource has not been fully used,” he opined and asserted that the export rate had grown by 1.6 times while the import rate had increased by 47% in the past year. “This is a great result and it shows that we have a colossal potential to use.”
Yushchenko then expressed gratitude to Mr. Persson for supporting Ukraine’s policies. He reminded those present that Goran Persson, Aleksander Kwasniewski and Javier Solana had organized the first foreign conference “Government and opposition in Ukraine” in Warsaw in 2003. It was intent to “make Ukraine’s political elite establish a dialogue and find ways to resolve the political crisis.”
“That was an important initiative to help Ukraine and its opposition demonstrate their vision of how to stabilize the situation in the country. Unfortunately, that government was deaf and so did not consider any of our suggestions,” he said. “[But] it was [still] really significant for Ukraine’s democratic forces.”
The Head of State informed those present that they had also discussed ways to mark the 200th anniversary of the Poltava Battle in 2009.
In his turn, Mr. Persson congratulated Yushchenko on his first year in office. He claimed that the first year “yielded many results” in bringing Ukraine closer to the EU.
“We will continue our dialogue and we will continue to negotiate all opportunities for cooperation and integration,” he said.
The Premier then added that Sweden was ready to share its experience to produce energy from local resources.
