Sweden to close five embassies
Published: 22 Dec 10 10:55 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/31014/20101222/
The Swedish government on Wednesday announced the closure of embassies in Buenos Aires, Brussels, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur and Luanda.
- US tightens security at Stockholm embassy (21 Dec 10)
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The decommissioning of the five embassies will take place during 2011, the statement said.
Sweden's Riksdag voted on December 9th to cut the government's administrative budget in what was the first defeat suffered by the new Alliance minority government.
Carl Bildt described the cuts as "stupid, dangerous and harmful" and the foreign ministry declared that foreign missions in Algiers, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Havana, Hong Kong, Khartoum, Lisbon, Luanda, Pyongyang and Rabat were all in danger of being closed as a result.
Separately, it has been announced that Sweden's ambassador to Poland Dag Hartelius has been appointed as the new head of Sweden's Permanent Representation to the European Union.
Hartelius began working for the foreign ministry in 1985. He has held prior foreign postings in Moscow and Berlin, among others and since 2008 has served as Sweden's ambassador in Warsaw.
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Afterall Sweden always asks how high to jump when the US says jump to the Swedes.
Why have an embassy in North Korea?? What services are they possibly providing there? Tourist visas?
Let's recall that Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina.
förklara!!!
Swedish ambassador to Poland...or how can a Polish permanently represent Swedish in the EU
It is basically there to represent Western interests.
Sweden has been anything but compliant with US policy.
For instance here is a list of cities where Sweden has a consulate or embassy in just the US:
Anchorage, AK
Atlanta, GA
Boston, MA
Charlotte Amalie, VI
Chicago, IL
Cleveland, OH
Dallas, TX
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
Fort Lauderdale and Miami, FL
Hamilton, Bermuda
Honolulu, HI
Houston, TX
Jamestown, NY
Kansas City, KS
Las Vegas, Nevada
Milwaukee, WI
Minneapolis, MN
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY
Norfolk, VA
Omaha, NE
Philadelphia, PA
Phoenix, AZ
Raleigh, NC
San Juan, PR
Seattle, WA
St. Louis, MO
Tampa, Florida
Washington, D.C.
This is just one country, albeit a large one. Think of the astronomical costs that go into running offices in all these urban areas in the US. It seems only rational that smaller countries combine offices to control these costs, and I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. I would even go as far as to say the US and Canada should look into doing this in countries where there are not many US and Canadian citizens. It seems like there is a lot of potential to cut costs in national embassy systems but most nations are not looking in to them.
I mean, honestly? They are putting more and more soldiers in Afghanistan, for a war that doesn´t concern us at all... but they are closing the embassy in Buenos Aires, a huge country to which Swedes are moving more and more?
Pathetic, and so predictible from this goverment.
@ mkvgtired: Your list in not correct. Seattle for example has an "honorary Consulate" as part of the Swedish Heritage club, but it has no real governmental abilities. Take for example passport renewal. To do that, one must travel to New York.
-HSII