A Swedish court has dealt another blow to the aspirations of Chinese tech giant Huawei, as it seeks to make inroads into the European tech market. Huawei had been battling several court cases after the United States banned the company from accessing US suppliers and participating in equipment supplies for the 5G infrastructure in the US. 
The Swedish court upheld a ban on Huawei from selling 5G equipment in Sweden. Huawei had appealed the October 2020 ban of the company by Sweden’s telecoms regulator due to security concerns. This is the second appeal that Huawei would be losing in its pursuit to overturn the regulator’s decision.
The ruling by the court affirms the need to safeguard the security of Sweden, which is of heavy importance and should be sustained. It was unlikely that Huawei would have gotten a reprieve from the Administrative court after the first Appeal in December was dismissed.
Huawei continues to insist that it is being targeted unfairly on false suspicion of links to the Chinese government. It says it is disappointed with the verdict and would still pursue other legal options open to it.
Sweden is not the only country in Europe that has restricted Huawei from participating in 5G equipment rollout. Huawei had hoped that its appeal would have led to the upturning of the decision by Sweden’s Post Telecom Authority to ban it from participating in the 5G rollout in the country. Huawei remains the global leader in 5G but it has been unable to wriggle itself away from the suspicion of being owned by the Chinese government.
Huawei says it is currently studying the judgment and the court’s justification to determine whether to explore further legal remedies it may use to protect its legitimate interests. It says it is open to constructive dialogues with the parties involved for an amicable resolution of the issue in a practical manner. Huawei says it is willing to work with the regulatory body and other stakeholders to mitigate any security concerns that led to the initial blocklisting of the company.
