[Sweden]: Call to the United States

[Connor]

Government of Sweden
Löfven Administration​

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A telephone call is made to the United States Department of State, by the Assistant Secretary of Foreign Affairs for American Affairs, Towe Gustavsson.
This telephone call is made in line with the Swedish Document Classification and Security Act 1995, which also covers telephonic communication, causing a 'SECURE' encryption level to be appended.

Odinson

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SECURE
Crown Copyright © Kingdom of Sweden
All information is subject to the Swedish Document Classification and Security Act 1995​

 

[Odinson]

Charlie Price, the Deputy Secretary of State, had just hung up with Minister Wallström. He took the new call from Sweden.
“Good morning, this is Deputy Secretary Price. How are you doing?”

Connor

 

[Connor]

"Deputy Secretary Price, my name is Assistant Secretary Towe Gustavsson from the Swedish Department of Foreign Affairs - much to my surprise unannounced travel restrictions have been placed on Sweden... perhaps this would be worth discussing before we cause hysteria amongst those on family holidays and business trips with out-of-the-blue statements with no context?"

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"Hello Assistant Secretary Gustavsson. I think that Secretary Fitzgerald's announcement was crystal clear. The United States cannot guarantee the safety of Americans abroad, in Sweden, and has advised them to leave the country. That is the stance of the Federal Government at this time... I understand that might not be a satisfying answer," he admitted. "I..." he said, and then paused as he considered whether or not he should share the following information. "I heard that the White House is trying to organize in-person negotiations between our two governments in the United Kingdom... If the British accept, I imagine they will be contacting your government shortly," he said.

Connor

 

[Connor]

"Oh it was crystal clear alright... and undoubtedly has set utter panic into the hearts of every single tourist travelling on US travel documents; if you were on holiday in Portugal and the US Department of State told you to leave as soon as possible, would you casually finish the rest of your holiday? or would you suspect you're in imminent danger and flee? Our ports weren't prepared for this, and you are putting peoples lives at risk by causing hysteria out of the blue with no context.

Are you really implying they're suddenly unsafe in Sweden? Be realistic Deputy Secretary, this is a political stunt, you know they're more than safe in Sweden but you're proving a point... a common diplomatic decision but nonetheless on this occasion was incredibly ill thought out and all you've really done is put peoples lives at risk.

I thought I would make the sensible decision of actually working out the logistics of this matter because I don't have the ability to magically whip out aircraft from nowhere to take the random influx of passengers back to the United States. I could have had it prepared, if you'd consulted with us, but you didn't. So now your citizens will queue for hours on end in an airport until we can get this sorted... so what do you propose for the logistics of this mess?"

He pauses briefly, clearly the stress of trying to manage the huge crowds of people trying to leave the country was getting to him.

"Deputy Secretary, peace talks are way above my pay grade, I am sure the Prime Minister or the Secretary of Foreign Affairs will welcome the opportunity but I have called purely to make sure everyone is safe."

Odinson

 

[Odinson]

"Assistant Secretary Gustavsson, I understand that this is frustrating for your government," he said. "American Airlines will be able to fly American directly back to New York City, if need be, and other carriers can take them to the United Kingdom, France, Germany, or any other Western European nation. I imagine some will also be going to Denmark, Norway, Finland, and other Northern European nations. The American Embassy is prepared to assist Americans who may considered themselves stranded. Anyone who cannot afford to leave Sweden will have a ticket home paid for them by the United States. With that being said, even if every single American in Sweden tried to leave your country today, less than fifteen 747s could evacuate the entire population," he said.

"But, if you would like us to organize more formal efforts to avoid stress at your travel hubs, I entirely understand. The Air Force could send its own assets, or have aircraft chartered for the federal government to fly to Stockholm," he said.

Connor

 

[Connor]

"That's my point, there aren't enough American Airlines flights to cater for the unannounced arrivals at airports throughout Stockholm. These flights are full of tourists from not just Sweden but around the world using the airlines as part of their normal commute, business, vacation and connection flights. Your travel ban came without consideration of this fact, it's not just as simple as piling in the aircraft because as you know, operating major international airports in the US, they run like clockwork with aircraft scheduled to land within three minutes of one another... With some notice we could have had this arranged.

Fifteen 747's we do not have capacity for Deputy Secretary, and the addition of these extra flights will cause thousands, if not millions of dollars in other airlines lost revenue, additional security services, administration costs and terminal position rent.

The only alternative we can foresee, as a sensible decision Deputy Secretary, that you extend the 'cut-off' date for another twenty-eight days... in that time we can see the re-scheduling of usual flights in an out of major international airports in Sweden to accommodate for either an increase in American Airlines flights or should it be necessary US Air Force assets."

Odinson