Sweden responds to Iran’s admission pic: se.depositphotos.com
“Horrible and terrible” was Prime Minister Stefan Löfven’s response to Iran’s admission of guilt for shooting down the Ukrainian passenger plane. “That a civilian plane has been shot down, regardless if it was a mistake or not, is an action that must be condemned, and that Iran must take full responsibility for, also in regards to the affected parties.” Löfven again also conveyed his condolences to the victims’ families. “Here in Sweden, and throughout the world, people grieve the victims of the plane crash outside Tehran the 8th of January. I feel strongly for all those who lost someone dear to them.”
“I see that they have now taken their responsibility, now that the proof was, apparently, overwhelming” noted Ann Linde, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on Twitter.
Minister for Defense, Peter Hultqvist, also commented on P1 that it would not be enough that Iran conduct a thorough and transparent investigation – the country also has a responsibility to those who have been affected. “It’s too early to say exactly what that will come to mean […] there will be a reckoning at a later stage.” Hultqvist emphasized that Iran was completely responsible for what happened.
In related news, Hultqvist remained positive to Swedish troops remaining in nearby Iraq as long as they had a mandate from the Iraqi government to do so.
Sadly, it is now confirmed that 17 Swedes died in the plane crash in Iran earlier this week. UD spokesperson, Anna Lundbladh, told news bureau TT that seven people had Swedish citizenship and that the other ten were nationally registered (folkbokförd) in Sweden.
Speaking to DN, Ann Linde, Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that Sweden had no independent confirmation that an Iranian missile shot down the plane. “We have a crash expert who is available, if wanted or needed (ställt till förfogande).
In her conversation with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Linde stated that Sweden is requesting a full, transparent, independant and thorough inquiry. “We are asking for complete access” she said.
In his conversation with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Löfven said they had agreed that the information that Iran had shot down the plane increased the need for a expeditious, complete and transparent investigation. “We were also agreed that the affected countries need to have the possibility to contribute with national expertise and be given complete access to the investigation. We agreed to keep in close contact with the other affected countries” Löfven said to DN.
Sweden is stopping all flights between Sweden and Iran until further notice, SvD reports. In a press release, the Swedish Transport Agency (transportstyrelsen) said the stop was due to uncertainty over the reasons for the crash. The agency has also issued a strong recommendation to all airlines to avoid crossing the region’s airspace. “We are doing this from an air safety perspective” the transport agency’s director for sea and air Gunnar Ljungberg stated, “and in consideration for our passengers.”
many questions in conjunction with the crash pic: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP
The escalation in the Iran-USA standoff reached Sweden early this morning when a plane leaving Tehran for Kiev burst into flames and crashed, killing all on board. Swedish casualties are currently at ten, but other sources have the figure at seventeen.
“It’s a terrible and shocking event. Many Swedes have been lost. My thoughts go to the victims and their families” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Anne Linde. UD’s spokesperson Anna Lundbladh told DN that the ministry was working on site through the embassy in Tehran to get better information.
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven echoed his minister’s comments, saying he was thinking of the victims, and called for an investigation into the crash’s causes.
Swede Peter Saffer has already been appointed the Swedish expert liaison for the crash, in accordance with the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. The plane was in the air only a few minutes before it crashed. According to Iranian authorities there were no distress signals received.
The plane was first announced to have suffered a mechanical failure, but that idea has since been thrown into doubt as the plane was less than four years old and the pilots were experienced. The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority (haverikommissionen) have since said the accident’s causes will have to be determined.
Questions have also been raised as to whether the crash was a tragic accident or if it could somehow be connected to the rapid and recent escalation in tensions between the USA and Iran. The two black boxes from the plane have been recovered, but where their contents will be analysed is unresolved. Hans Kjäll, senior flight safety analyst at Nordic Safety Analysis Group, told SvD that there is uncertainty regarding Iran’s resources at this time. Normally, also the airline’s manufacturer, Boeing, would be involved with recovering the information but at this sensitive political juncture, their efforts could be unwelcome. Even what role and access Ukrainian authorities could be granted is uncertain. If Iran goes along with it, the boxes could also be sent to the French aviation security authority.
Here in Sweden, the names of the casualties will be released only after their relatives and family have been notified.
Around 800 prisoners in the Kurdish-controlled camp of Ain Issa have escaped due to the invasion of Turkish forces in north-east Syria. This disturbing news item is included in this blog on Swedish politics because there were Swedes in that group, as well as Norwegians and many other Europeans (DN.se/AinIssa). Other reports say only 100 prisoners escaped, but, all were agreed that the situation is pretty much sheer chaos.
Bringing back the Swedish children and their families who are living in the refugee camps and prisons is now even more difficult due to the Turkish offensive. Not that it was ever easy, as the government had yet to formulate a position on it even before the invasion. Hopes have been held out, ever since the camps were set up, that the European Union would do something – then Sweden wouldn’t have to figure out the right thing to do on it’s own – but so far it’s been nada from the EU.
Back in April, then-Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström said that the children of Swedish IS terrorists would be taken home. But besides the 7 Swedish orphans that were flown back to Sweden due to the well-publicized, and on-site, efforts of the children’s grandfather, nothing else has been done that has made it to the papers. There are estimated to be about 57 Swedish children, plus their mothers who joined IS back in the day, in the camps. Most of them are in the Al-Hol camp in the north east. Until now, the Kurds have shouldered the responsibility to run these camps, but now that will likely fall to the Turks, assuming their take over continues.
“It is very, very olyckligt” said Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde yesterday. Olycklig can be translated many ways – unfortunate, wretched, infelicitous, unlucky, grievous, sad, unhappy, dismal – reader’ choice. “We want to bring the children home” she continued. “But it is much, much more difficult than we thought. Partly because there are laws that say one can’t take a child from its mother, or take a child from a Swedish mother whose father comes from another country. Partly also we have international law. There are so many obstacles – which I don’t think we knew about in the beginning” (DN.se/AnnLinde). According to Linde, other European countries are having the exact same problems. “Furthermore, it isn’t always easy to be certain of their identities, or who the child’s parents are” (SvD.se/AnnLinde).
For others, however, it seems identity is not at all an issue. SvD was in touch with a man in Sweden whose daughter and grandchildren are in the Al-Hol camp. In a conversation with his daughter last week, she expressed fears that the Kurdish forces will leave to fight the Turks, and leave the camp on its own. “The fear is that they just open the doors, and it will be up to each person to make their own way. How women and children will make it, out in the countryside, in an aggressive environment, I have no idea” said the anonymous man. “My daughter wants to get out of there. The question is how one does that (SvD.se/daughter).
That is the question. In a recent poll instituted by Save the Children, Sweden, 42% of respondents thought that the children, together with their mothers, should be allowed to return to Sweden – if, that is, the mothers’ possible crimes and their suitability as guardians were investigated. 11% thought the children alone should be brought back to Sweden, while 29% felt that both mothers and their children should remain in Syria. 18% said they didn’t know (SvD.se/ISpoll). This was before Turkey invaded, so that percentage that is for bringing them back to Sweden has likely risen.
Two new ministers, an ex-minister gets the EU’s migration portfolio and and an ex-party leader goes back into uniform. Where to start?
When Margot Wallström said buh-bye to the Foreign Minister job there weren’t really a lot of candidates to replace her. It had to be a woman, so that narrowed it right down too. Today, we got the formal word that the new Minister for Foreign Affairs will be Ann Linde, previously Minister for Foreign Trade, with responsibility for Nordic affairs.
This is not particularly surprising, and she’ll likely continue with a feminist foreign policy (but without the fanfare). However, her appointment is far from unquestioned: Linde showed incredibly poor judgement when she heard about the data leaks at the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) – and didn’t do anything. Let’s hope she’s learned something, or Sweden’s security is in shaky hands. A minor, but likely painful, problem will be all the coming meetings with foreign representatives who will no doubt think, however briefly, of Anna Lindh, the well known and popular Foreign Minister who met a tragic end in 2003.
The new Minister for Employment, Eva Nordmark, will also have to fill large shoes. Nordmark comes from TCO, The Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees where she has been chair. TCO is an umbrella organization for 13 different white-collar unions and as far as anyone knows, is skeleton free. The Ministry for Employment is responsible for “the labour market, the work environment, gender equality, human rights at national level, children’s rights and the introduction of newly arrived immigrants,” so not so piddly.
Meanwhile, the previous Minister for Employment, Ylva Johansson, is in Brussels and looks to be getting the dubious honor, but important position, of heading up EU’s Home Affairs office. The EU commission is the executive branch of the EU, proposing legislation and implementing decisions (nod here to Wikipedia) – at Home Affairs, Johansson will be working on easy stuff like migration issues and security. EU commissioner von der Leyen described Johansson as “hands-on. If you want something to be done, ask her”(t.sr.se/SRJohansson).
There’s going to be a lot of asks, as there is a lot that people want done. Or not. Some people want their own migration policy and not EU deciding it for them. Getting 28 countries to agree on a migration policy is, well, as the Chinese have it “when the sun rises in the west.”
Finally, Major Jan Björklund is back on the job. This time, not as Liberal Party leader but as acting operations leader in Middle Military Region’s command staff (). Though he couldn’t introduce discipline in schools, it seems like he’s giving it another try in the trenches.
