SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER--FOCUS ON IMMIGRATION--NO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003074

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/05/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ SW
SUBJECT: SWEDISH FOREIGN MINISTER--FOCUS ON IMMIGRATION--NO
IMMEDIATE PLANS FOR AN EMBASSY

Classified By: Classified by Political Counsellor Matthew H. Tueller fo
r Reasons 1.4d/b


1. (C) SUMMARY. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt,
Immigration Minister Tobias Billstrom, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Director Bjorn Lyrvall, and Swedish Ambassador to
Iraq (stationed in Jordan) Niclas Trouve discussed a wide
range of political issues with Ambassador Crocker and
suggested Sweden would become more engaged in Iraq.
Immigration seemed to be Bildt's primary concern; and while
he touched on internal, bilateral and multilateral issues, he
did not once mention the European Union. END SUMMARY.

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Swedish Embassy in Baghdad-Lack of Funds and Return
Agreement Are Impediments
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2. (C) In a September 2 breakfast meeting, Ambassador
Crocker, accompanied by Minister for Economic Affairs Charles
Ries and Political Counselor Matthew Tueller, told Foreign
Minister Bildt how pleased the GOI was with the Swedish FM,s
visit. Bildt explained he was in Baghdad to demonstrate
Sweden,s support for recent political progress and in
particular the leaders, agreement. He emphasized that he
wanted to make Sweden relevant in Iraq, but told us the GOS
had no immediate plans to establish an embassy in Baghdad.
Bildt blamed this on budget constraints and lack of progress
on a return agreement for Iraqi refugees illegally in Sweden.
(NOTE: Bildt cancelled the Kurdistan leg of his trip over
this issue, much to the displeasure of KRG President Massoud
Barzani. Perhaps not coincidentally, a day before Bildt,s
arrival, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani cancelled his Baghdad
meeting with him. However, in a pre-trip video conference
with Embassy Economic and Political Counselors, Bildt
confirmed that a trip to Kurdistan was still on his agenda.
END NOTE) Bildt closed by saying once the GOS and the GOI
conclude an agreement, the GOS will move ahead with an
Embassy in Baghdad. Ambassador Crocker offered logistical
support to facilitate the operation.

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Iraqi Immigrants A Major Concern For The GOS
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3. (C) Foreign Minister Bildt estimated that approximately
100,000 Iraqis live in Sweden and told
Ambassador Crocker that if the United States accepted Iraqi
asylees and refugees at the same pace, the US would have over
500,000 Iraqi residents. He explained that the majority were
Kurds who fled the former regime,s persecution but stressed
that since 2003, most Iraqis arriving in Sweden were Arabs.
He said that in 2007, the GOS expected 20,000 asylum
petitions and would approve approximately 74 percent. The 26
percent not approved were the reason Iraqi immigration had
become a Swedish domestic issue and that concluding a return
agreement was critically important for the GOS. Bildt
observed that without a mechanism for returning illegal
aliens, the immigration problem would spiral out of control
in a country of only nine million inhabitants. Both the FM
and Immigration Minister Tobias Billstrom said recent
arrivals were more difficult to assimilate because they often
arrive destitute (Billstrom estimated travel expenses alone
exceed USD 20,000),poorly educated, and without professional
or language skills. Bildt and Billstrom also mentioned
several high profile honor killings as prompting more calls
for stronger immigration policies from the Swedish public.

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Kurdistan Air Incident-Probably Not A MANPAD Attack
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4. (C) Bildt pressed Ambassadors Crocker and Ries for
information on two alleged man-portable air defense systems
(MANPAD) attacks on Swedish and Austrian airliners.
Ambassador Crocker replied that the USAF had not found the
incidents adequate reason to change its designation of KRG
airspace, but he declined to rule out an attack because he
said there were no Coalition surveillance or warning
(JSTAR/AWACS) assets in the area at the time. However, after
listing other factors, including MANPAD range limits and the
high quality of Kurdish security, the ambassador told Bildt
it was unlikely the aircraft had been attacked. Ambassador
Ries added that press reports indicated the Swedish carrier
had regulatory problems with the KRG Civil Aviation
authority, and wondered if it was a coincidence that the
flight allegedly attacked was the final one scheduled to fly
the route. Ambassador Trouve confirmed the carrier,s
difficulties but thought it was unlikely they would stage the
incident. In an aside echoing the immigration issue, Lyrvall
pointed out that the Erbil route had become among the most

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profitable for both companies.

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COMMENT
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5. (C) Bildt has clearly mastered the Iraq brief and
appeared serious when he told us he wants a more robust
Swedish presence here. His focus on immigration and the fact
that he did not mention the European Union at all suggests
that domestic political imperatives drove his mission. As
the GOS follows up this trip (as we expect it will) with a
KRG visit and other activities, Embassy Baghdad will continue
to provide support. In a final example of the Embassy,s
substantial logistical assistance, Foreign Minister Bildt
accepted Ambassador's Crocker and MNF-I's offer to use
Coalition air assets to depart Baghdad after Royal Jordanian
cancelled his flight.
BUTENIS