Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07STOCKHOLM223
2007-03-01 16:16:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Stockholm
Cable title:  

SWEDEN: BILDT CALLS FOR GREATER EU INVOLVEMENT IN

Tags:  PREL PGOV SW IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2016
OO RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSM #0223 0601616
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 011616Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1756
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0235
C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 000223 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV SW IZ
SUBJECT: SWEDEN: BILDT CALLS FOR GREATER EU INVOLVEMENT IN
IRAQ

REF: STOCKHOLM 212

Classified By: Polcouns Casey Christensen, reason 1.4 (b) and (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L STOCKHOLM 000223

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV SW IZ
SUBJECT: SWEDEN: BILDT CALLS FOR GREATER EU INVOLVEMENT IN
IRAQ

REF: STOCKHOLM 212

Classified By: Polcouns Casey Christensen, reason 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (u) Making reference to participation by key countries in
the upcoming conference on the future of Iraq, Swedish
Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said the EU and Sweden should,
once the security situation improves, make greater
contributions toward stabilizing Iraq and supporting the
development of a successful, functioning state. In an
article in Dagens Nyheter (full translation of the article
emailed to EUR/NB),Bildt said that Sweden and Europe have a
very strong interest in developing a democratic and stable
Iraq. He warned of the risk of civil war, ethnic
persecution, and the risk of spreading conflict in the region
if this does not happen. Bildt said the stream of Iraqi
asylum seekers would also increase substantially -- noting
that last year 9,000 Iraqis, or half of all Iraqis headed to
Europe, sought asylum in Sweden (reftel).


2. (u) Bildt took a different view of the international
intervention in Iraq than his predecessors, noting that
"those who fundamentally condemned what happened must realize
that today's international presence in Iraq is based upon a
request from the Iraqi government and a decision of the UN
Security Council, most recently in resolution 1723" He said
that "it is of great interest to Sweden and the rest of
Europe that Iraq become a democratic, stable and unified
country. No country would remain unaffected if Iraq heads
toward a more open civil war, with even larger refugee flows,
ethnic persecution and mounting hostility in the region." He
urged "a constructive contribution to a better future" for
Iraq. Bildt added that "It is easy to say that we, as well
as the EU, should have done more. The future for nation
building in Iraq will affect the rest of the region -- and
also European security. If the security situation in Iraq
improves, we should obviously be prepared, not least of all
within the EU, to discuss future contribution."

Comment
--------------

3. (c) Bildt has been criticized in the media and by rival
politicians recently on a number of fronts: his interests to
energy companies with ties to Russia's proposed Baltic Sea
pipeline (Vostok Nafta) or Sudan (Lundin Oil); his role on
the International Advisory Council of the Committee for the
Liberation of Iraq; and his popular blogs in English
(http://bildt.blogspot.com) and Swedish
(http://carlbildt.wordpress.com). Bildt has weathered the
storms thus far. A prosecutor declined to proceed against him
on the Vostok Nafta matter, and Bildt has denied any wrong
doing on any front. In connection with the blogs, he has
defended such openness as the wave of the future and wryly
noted that his Swedish blog had ten times as many visits on
February 28 as the Social Democrat youth movement has
members.


4. (c) Despite his critics, he enjoys considerable latitude
in terms of foreign policy. His views on Iraq are much more
forward-leaning than those of his predecessors. Our
contacts in the MFA and elsewhere in the government give him
great deference, but he has become a kind of lighting rod for
political opponents of the current government. It is
significant, however, that his response to criticism of his
role in connection with the Committee for the Liberation of
Iraq has been to urge a greater Swedish and EU role in
building the Iraqi nation.
WOOD