1/ The US government has ordered the Swedish city of Stockholm to end its diversity, inclusivity and equality (DEI) programmes within 10 days. The city authorities say the demand is "bizarre" and they won't be complying. ⬇️
2/ The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reports that the Stockholm city planning office has received a letter from the US embassy explaining that every organisation doing business with the US government must sign a contract within a few days and agree to end their DEI programmes.
3/ Since February 2025, US embassies around the world have been sending letters to local contractors making similar demands. This seems to be the first time that it's been reported that a similar letter has been sent to a foreign government organisation.
4/ Jan Valeskog, Stockholm's Vice Mayor for City Planning and Sports, calls the letter "completely bizarre". He says that "we absolutely do not intend to do that, it is the opposite of everything we stand for. They should withdraw these strange things."
5/ Valeskog points out that it is in fact the US embassy in Stockholm that needs the city planning office, not the other way round.
6/ "If the US terminates its relationship with the city planning office, the embassy will have difficulty obtaining a building permit if they want to rebuild, for example. That's their headache, not ours."
7/ The Swedish government says that it would violate Swedish law to comply with such a demand. Commenting on similar letters sent to Swedish businesses, Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life Nina Larsson says:
8/ "According to the Discrimination Act, Swedish companies are obliged to work preventively and actively to counteract discrimination and promote equal rights – for example based on gender, ethnicity or disability.
9/ "Otherwise, there may be penalties. Companies should feel secure in the fact that Swedish law is firm. It is also important that we – both politically and from the industries – are clear about this towards foreign clients."
10/ Despite this, there are signs that some Swedish companies have surrendered to Trump's demands. The Telecoms giant Eriksson, which has contracts with the US government and donated to Trump's inauguration fund, has deleted DEI references from its annual report. /end
Sources:
🔹 dn.se/sverige/usas-a…
🔹 dn.se/ekonomi/amerik…
🔹 di.se/nyheter/efter-…
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