Stockholm v Trump: 'If US embassy wanted a building permit, they would have a problem'
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On Friday, May 9th, the Stockholm City Planning Department, missed the ten-day deadline to submit a signed document requested by the US government on April 29th, something Jan Valeskog, the deputy mayor responsible for the planning department, said he had never intended to do.
"It's bizarre, because it goes against everything we stand for, and also against Swedish law," he told The Local. "All municipalities are working with anti-discrimination. It's unbelievable."
READ ALSO: Stockholm hits back at US embassy's 'completely bizarre' anti-DEI contract
On Tuesday, April 29th, Stockholm's city's planning department received an email from the US embassy, giving them 10 days to sign a document certifying that they "do not operate programs promoting DEI", along with what looked like a threat to withhold payment.
The city government, the US embassy wrote, should "agree that such certification is material for the government's payment decision", suggesting that the Stockholm city government would be "subject to the False Claims Act", under which suppliers to the US government risk fines of up to $10,000.
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The letter enforces US President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14173, which, among other things, forbids US government agencies from "allowing federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin".
The US embassy, like all other US government agencies, is required under the executive order to include a term in all future contracts, "requiring such counterparty or recipient to certify that it does not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws".
Valeskog told The Local had been hoping that the US embassy or the State Department would withdraw the demand before the deadline passed.
"We are expecting them to withdraw this and maybe say that they are sorry," he said. "I'm not sure [US President] Trump has ever used these words, but this could have been the first time. There were rumours they were going to issue a statement last Friday, but they didn't."
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Permit problems
Valeskog said that if the US embassy in Stockholm were to cancel contracts or freeze payments because of a refusal to sign the document, they would only damage themselves.
"Every fourth year, the embassy wants a building permit and if they want to get the building permit, they need to cooperate with us and if they don't want to do that, they would have a problem."
Christopher Fjellner, the leader of the opposition Moderate Party, called on city government to take an even more robust approach, threatening to cut off municipal services like hot water or garbage collection.
"It's them who are dependent on our garbage collection, our hot water, and our sewage treatment, so if they want to do without them, I say good luck to them!" he told Sweden's public radio broadcaster SR.
Government's job to protest
Fjellner also called for the Social Democrat-led city government to demand a meeting with the embassy, something Valeskog rejected.
"This is a real misunderstanding. We are not allowed to do foreign policy, so we cannot take 'revenge' on the embassy or call the embassy personnel up to the city offices. That's not for us to do, it's for the government, but they are silent. A lot of governments are silent for some reason when it comes to Trump administration. It's a very strange situation."
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