SWEDEN'S NEW GOVERNMENT IS NAMED, MAKES POLICY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 STOCKHOLM 001632 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR SW SUBJECT: SWEDEN'S NEW GOVERNMENT IS NAMED, MAKES POLICY STATEMENT REF: STOCKHOLM 1501 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Charge d'affaires a.i. Casey Christensen, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (c) Fredrick Reinfeldt, who was formally elected Prime Minister by the Swedish parliament on October 5, named his cabinet and gave the new government's statement of policy on October 6. Ministers from Reinfeldt's Moderate Party will lead about half the ministries, including many of the key ones: Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, and Defense. The new Foreign Minister is Carl Bildt, who was Sweden's Prime Minister from 1991-94. In the statement of government policy, Reinfeldt largely stuck to the campaign themes of job-related reforms and improving the business climate, while ensuring his government would "safeguard the Swedish model." On foreign policy, there were no major shifts. Reinfeldt called for a strengthening of the transatlantic link, while reiterating the existing policy that "Sweden does not participate in military alliances." He stated definitively that "special measures will be taken to promote democracy in dictatorships such as Cuba and Belarus." Several of the new ministers are well and favorably known to the Embassy, and several have spoken out in favor of strong Euro-atlantic ties. End Summary. The New Line-up -------------- ¶2. (c) The government will consist of the 21 following full and junior ministers, 11 men and 10 women (bio's on key ministers will follow). Junior Ministers serve under the ministers listed above them: Prime Minister: Fredrick Reinfeldt, 41 Moderate. (Junior) EU Minister: Cecilia Malmstrom, 38, Liberal. PhD in Political Science. Member of European Parliament. Annoyed the French by proposing the EU Parliament no longer do part of its sessions in Strasbourg. Industry Minister: Maud Olofsson, 51, Center. She will also serve as vice-Prime Minister. Leader of the Center Party. Interested in developing better business conditions for small and medium enterprises. The Center party are traditionally committed to environmental issues. (Junior) Infrastructure Minister: Asa Torstensson, Center. Finance Minister: Anders Borg, 38, Moderate. Former speech writer for Bildt; architect of Reinfeldt's New Moderates. Liaison between Reinfeldt and Bildt. Reportedly architect of the Alliance for Sweden and the New Moderates. (Junior) Financial Market Issues Minister: Mats Odell, about 60, Christian Democrat. Served in Bildt's government 1991-94. Foreign Minister: Carl Bildt, 57, Moderate. Prime Minister 1991-94. Co-chaired Dayton Peace Talks; former EU Special Representative to Former Yugoslavia and former UNSGY Special Envoy for Balkan issues. On the board of Rand Corporation and the International Advisory Board of the Council of Foreign Relations, and a member of numerous public policy groups. (Junior) Foreign Trade Minister: Maria Borelius, 46, Moderate. Her portfolio has been moved back to the MFA from the Ministry of Industry. (Junior) Development Aid Minister: Gunilla Carlsson, Moderate. Carlsson is the deputy head of the Moderate Party. Justice Minister: Beatrice Ask, 50, Moderate. School Minister during Bildt government, 1991-94. An IV program alumni. (Junior) Migration Minister: Tobia Billstrom, Moderate. Defense Minister: Mikael Odenberg, 52, Moderate. Was a member of the Defense Committee of the Riksdag. Social Affairs Minister: Goran Hagglund, 47, Christian Democrat (CD). CD party head. Focused on family issues. (Junior) Minister for Public Health: Maria Larsson, CD. STOCKHOLM 00001632 002 OF 003 (Junior) Minister for Social Insurance: Cristina Husmark Persson, Moderate. Environment Minister: Andreas Carlgren, 48, Center. Formerly head of the Immigration authority. Education Minister: Lars Leijonborg, 57, Liberal. Liberal Party leader. Chairs the government's Globalization Council. (Junior) School Minister Jan Bjorklund, Liberal. Has been an advocate for Sweden joining NATO. Agriculture Minister: Eskil Erlandsson, 49, Center. Culture Minister: Cecilia Stego Chilo, 47, Moderate. Head of pro-market think tank Timbro. Integration and Gender Equality Minister: Nyamko Sabuni, 37, Liberal. Originally from Liberia. Advocates that immigrants should speak Swedish; activist against female circumcision. Minister for Labor Market Issues: Sven Otto Littorin, Moderate. Former Moderate Party Secretary. MBA from Fairfax University in the U.S. ¶3. (c) The new government includes ministers from the four parties of the Alliance for Sweden in numbers that approximate their showings in the elections. The Moderates take the Prime Minister position plus 10 of the cabinet ministries, including the heavy-weight ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Defense. The Center and Liberal parties each get four ministries, and the Christian Democrats three. The assigned ministries lined up fairly well in accordance with key constituencies of the parties (such as the Center party, which used to be the Agriculture party, getting the Agriculture Ministry, and the Christian Democrats, who focus on family-friendly policies, getting Social Affairs). Initial reaction via instant polls in the media has been very favorable. Many of the ministers are well known, and figures such as Carl Bildt add gravitas to the cabinet. ¶4. (c) Bildt's appointment as Foreign Minister comes as something of a surprise. Bildt and Reinfeldt had a tense relationship after Reinfeldt, who was then head of the youth wing of the Moderate Party, publicly criticized Bildt following the Moderate's loss in the Parliamentary elections of 1994. Bildt sent Reinfeldt out into the cold for a while. Finance Minister Anders Borg is reputed to be a link between the two. There is speculation that Bildt took the position because he wants to renew his credentials for a run at Solana's EU position in two years. In any event, Bildt is expected to carry great weight in foreign policy issues, an area where Reinfeldt acknowledges he does not have much experience. Reinfeldt has declared he will focus on implementing his campaign pledges, now expressed as government policy. These largely ignored foreign policy, except in general terms. The appointment of Bildt was perhaps the only option to have a new foreign minister who would not be overshadowed in comparison with the preceding one, the well-regarded and internationally esteemed Jan Eliasson. Alliance Policy is Government Policy -------------- 5, (c) As the first majority government Sweden has had in 25 years, Reinfeldt's Alliance for Sweden coalition (consisting of the Moderate, Center, Liberal, and Christian Democrat parties) has a relatively free hand to adopt and implement the policies they campaigned on. The Alliance set forth in a series of campaign papers carefully negotiated and exhaustively spelled out policy compromises. These have now been collated to become the Government Policy, as spelled out by Reinfeldt in his speech of October 6 (the full statement is available in English at http://www.sweden.gov.se/content/1/c6/07/02/3 3/71d8a385.pdf). The speech reads as though it is an amalgam of policy papers written by committees, which it is, but makes quite clear the direction the policy will go: a focus on measures designed to develop the job market and encourage Swedes to work rather than receiving various forms of state support. Reinfeldt also assured Swedes that the "Swedish model" would be preserved. Continuity and New Emphases in Foreign Policy -------------- ¶6. (c) Reinfeldt reiterated the existing policy that "Sweden does not participate in military alliances." At the same STOCKHOLM 00001632 003 OF 003 time, he said Sweden should have "increased potential to take part in different international peace missions," making specific mention of those under the aegis of the UN, EU, and NATO. Reinfeldt called for "a strengthening of the transatlantic link," but did not name the U.S. in the speech. With a clarity that we have not seen from Sweden earlier, he said "special measures will be taken to promote democracy in dictatorships such as Cuba and Belarus." Reinfeldt emphasized the strategic importance of Ukraine for Europe, and called for a long-term EU strategy for dealing with Russia. Comment -------------- ¶7. (c) The new government ministers are, on balance, more atlanticist than their predecessors. At the same time, Reinfeldt's focus is primarily on domestic issues. While he has earlier called for a debate on Sweden's joining NATO, that is clearly not on the short-term agenda. Within the constraints of Alliance-agreed positions (which are considerable, particularly in the light of Center-party policy on issues such as NATO membership that often tracks with positions of the Social Democrats),Carl Bildt will likely have more ability to set the foreign policy agenda than any recent Swedish foreign minister. CHRISTENSEN