Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06STOCKHOLM420
2006-03-24 16:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Stockholm
Cable title:
SWEDEN: BELARUS VISA BANS
how-toVZCZCXRO1139 OO RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHSM #0420 0831605 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 241605Z MAR 06 FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0006 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 000420
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM CVIS EUN BO SW
SUBJECT: SWEDEN: BELARUS VISA BANS
REF: STATE 46976
Classified By: Polcouns Casey Christensen, reason 1.4 (b) and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 000420
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM CVIS EUN BO SW
SUBJECT: SWEDEN: BELARUS VISA BANS
REF: STATE 46976
Classified By: Polcouns Casey Christensen, reason 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (c) Polcouns made reftel demarche on expanding travel
restriction against Belarus officials to MFA Eastern Europe
Director Malena Mard. Mard said that prior to the elections
in Belarus, Sweden had been reluctant to play the visa card.
The election and its aftermath had changed the equation, and
Sweden now supported visa restrictions "somewhere between the
six persons currently banned by the EU and the U.S. proposal
of 300 names." Mard said Sweden would support including
Lukashenka on the list but would likely be reluctant to
include family members.
2. (u) According to Mard, Sweden is deeply committed to
promoting democracy in Belarus and is its third largest
bilateral donor, following the U.S. and Germany. Sweden's
bilateral assistance is 40 million Swedish Crowns (about 5.2
million dollars) in 2006, and is set to rise to 45 million
(5.8 million dollars) in 2007. Programs are targeted at
low-to-mid-level bureaucrats, journalists, environmentalists,
and local governments, as well as NGOs.
3. (c) Mard said that Sweden had, until recently, often been
cited by Lukashenka as a model of the "middle way" that
Belarus could follow. This had now changed, and Sweden had
begun to be attacked in Belarus's media for working against
Belarus's interests. Mard called Lukashenka "increasingly
paranoid."
NOBLE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM CVIS EUN BO SW
SUBJECT: SWEDEN: BELARUS VISA BANS
REF: STATE 46976
Classified By: Polcouns Casey Christensen, reason 1.4 (b) and (d).
1. (c) Polcouns made reftel demarche on expanding travel
restriction against Belarus officials to MFA Eastern Europe
Director Malena Mard. Mard said that prior to the elections
in Belarus, Sweden had been reluctant to play the visa card.
The election and its aftermath had changed the equation, and
Sweden now supported visa restrictions "somewhere between the
six persons currently banned by the EU and the U.S. proposal
of 300 names." Mard said Sweden would support including
Lukashenka on the list but would likely be reluctant to
include family members.
2. (u) According to Mard, Sweden is deeply committed to
promoting democracy in Belarus and is its third largest
bilateral donor, following the U.S. and Germany. Sweden's
bilateral assistance is 40 million Swedish Crowns (about 5.2
million dollars) in 2006, and is set to rise to 45 million
(5.8 million dollars) in 2007. Programs are targeted at
low-to-mid-level bureaucrats, journalists, environmentalists,
and local governments, as well as NGOs.
3. (c) Mard said that Sweden had, until recently, often been
cited by Lukashenka as a model of the "middle way" that
Belarus could follow. This had now changed, and Sweden had
begun to be attacked in Belarus's media for working against
Belarus's interests. Mard called Lukashenka "increasingly
paranoid."
NOBLE