Stockholm is latest city to refuse 'bizarre' US request to abandon diversity

France 24

09-05-2025

The Stockholm City Council has rejected the US embassy's demands that it roll back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies at the behest of the Trump administration.
In his inauguration speech, US President Donald Trump vowed to end what he sweepingly but vaguely called efforts to 'socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life'.
This has translated into attempts to eliminate programmes in the United States that seek to encourage diversity and equality in education, the work force and beyond.
In an email to the city's planning office dated April 29, the US embassy asked that Stockholm officials sign a document promising that contractors would not operate any programmes promoting DEI that would violate current US law.
'It's so bizarre,' Jan Valeskog, Stockholm's vice-mayor for city planning, told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on Tuesday.
The city council said Friday that it would not comply with the embassy's demands or offer an official response.
'We were really surprised, of course,' Valeskog told The Associated Press.
'We will not sign this document at all, of course not.'
Valeskog said that while the city wants to maintain a good relationship with the US embassy, it will follow Swedish law and current city policies even if they include DEI practices.
Countries and cities across Europe have received similar demands from US embassies – including France, Belgium and the city of Barcelona – all of which have lashed out at the attempt to expand anti-diversity policies to the continent.
Questionnaire sent to French firms
The US embassy in Paris sent letters in March to several French companies warning against pursuing diversity programmes.
The letters, sent to firms currently doing or looking to do business with the United States, included a questionnaire asking them to certify that they "do not practice programmes to promote diversity, equity and inclusion".
The questionnaire added that such programmes "infringe on applicable federal anti-discrimination laws" in the United States, where Trump signed an order banning federal DEI programmes the day he returned to office.
"We would be grateful if you could complete and sign the document in English within five days and return it to us by email," the letter read.
"If you do not agree to sign this document, we would appreciate if you could provide detailed reasons, which we will forward to our legal services," it added.
The letter told companies that Trump's January 20 executive order rescinding DEI programmes "also applies to all contractors and suppliers of the US government, regardless of nationality or country of operations".
France lacks US-style DEI policies
France hit back through its ministry of foreign trade.
"US interference in French companies' inclusion policies is unacceptable, just like its unjustified tariff threats," the ministry said.
"France and Europe will defend their companies, their consumers, but also their values."
France does not have US-style affirmative action policies, and French law bans treating individuals differently based on origin, ethnic group or religion. Even conducting polls asking about ethnicity or religion is illegal.
However, many large companies have sought to diversify their recruitment pools. A 2023 study found that close to 97 percent of French CEOs were White.
France does require companies with more than 1,000 employees to try to promote gender equality, with benchmarks such as having at least 30 percent of executives be women.
Economy Minister Eric Lombard's office said the letter "reflects the values of the new US government" – but not French values.
"They are not ours," it said. "The minister will remind his US counterparts of that."