[Netherlands] Message to Sweden

[Dutchy]

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Kingdom of the Netherlands​

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Recipient: Lucia Björklund, Assistant Secretary of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs, Kingdom of Sweden (Connor)
Cc: -
Subject: Bilateral Relations & Exploratory Talks
Attachment:
Classification: PRIVATE

Assistant Secretary Björklund,

It is with great pleasure that I write this message to you today on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Dutch government recognises Sweden's position as a leading state on both the European and international stage. The Löfven administration has made great strides in raising Sweden to unfathomable heights in the eyes of the world. The recently installed de Hoop Scheffer cabinet is excited to explore the opportunities for bilateral cooperation between our two nations.

I would therefore propose the scheduling of exploratory talks between our ambassador in Stockholm and a member of your government in order to discover possible areas for cooperation. Our ambassador is available at your earliest convenience.

Yours Sincerely,

Anouk Roosevelt
Director General for European Affairs

 

[Connor]

Government of Sweden
Löfven Administration​

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Dear Anouk Roosevelt,

Please allow me to thank you for your kind words in seeing Sweden as a leading state in regional and international theatres. Domestically our work over the last couple of years has encompassed our core values in seeing communities, projects and schemes thrive internationally - the establishment of the Gustaf Royal Trust has opened billions of dollars to the world in grants and donations to spearhead this work for years to come; including our sponsorship of the Summer Olympics 2000. We, in the Department of Foreign Affairs, are very much at the forefront of the international image Swedish exhibits and your words echo a phenomenal achievement for our kingdom to wear with pride.

With past governments we have seen close workings with the Netherlands, something we would keen to see established with the bilateral cooperation you'd like to discuss. I would be honoured to host your Ambassador at the offices of the Department of Foreign Affairs Bureau for European Affairs.

Given recent tragedies security procedures in Sweden are at some of their highest levels in history, particularly surrounding government buildings amongst other areas; as such please ensure your Ambassador is in possession of his diplomatic passport and one other form of official documentation for presentation at reception. They may also be subject to a cursory person and bag searches and metal detection. I am sure you can appreciate these precautions as a way to maximise the safety of our staff and the security services.

I look forward to our meeting.

Regards,
Lucia Björklund
Assistant Secretary of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs
Department of Foreign Affairs
Kingdom of Sweden

Dutchy

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

 

[Dutchy]

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Kingdom of the Netherlands​

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Recipient: Lucia Björklund, Assistant Secretary of Foreign Affairs for European Affairs, Kingdom of Sweden (Connor)
Cc: -
Subject: Bilateral Relations & Exploratory Talks
Attachment:
Classification: PRIVATE

Assistant Secretary Björklund,

The Gustaf Royal Trust seems to offer amazing potential to support positive developments across the world and we are eager to see the impact it can have in the near future. Depending on the budget allocations, the Netherlands is willing to seek collaboration on projects with the Trust.

We understand your security concerns and I shall forward the details to the Ambassador. I hope that you have a pleasant meeting and that one day we ourselves may meet.

Yours Sincerely,

Anouk Roosevelt
Director General for European Affairs

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The Dutch Ambassador to Sweden, Mr Hubertus van Oorschot, would receive his instruction from the Ministry. While he made his final preparations a car would be brought to the front of the embassy. The journey from the embassy to the Department of Foreign Affairs would be a short though scenic one, with the route taking the Ambassador across the river and past parliament.

Upon the arrival at the Department of Foreign Affairs the ambassador disembarked form his vehicle, and with his briefcase in one hand, set off towards the front door. As he entered the building he eyed the reception and strode towards it. He entered a polite conversation with the receptionist, informing him that he had a meeting with Assistant Secretary Björklund.

 

[Connor]

Once the Ambassador arrived in his vehicle a security officer posted at the front door and briefed on his arrival would step forward and open the rear door of the car to allow the diplomat out - the officer, whilst apart of the National Security Office officially, would be dressed in a typical Swedish police uniform albeit entirely black. A brief radio transmission is made on a back to back channel as he directs his arms towards the main doors of reception. The receptionist would request the Ambassadors passport and official documentation which would in turn be validated by matching his face to that of the photocard.

The receptionist would raise from his seat, guiding him towards a metal detector which stood beside an xray machine for any bags he had with him. Once checked he would be walked directly to the Assistant Secretary's office which sat along the corridor on the second floor.

Lucia Björklund would immediately raise from he seat as the door knocked and make her way passed a small seating area to greet the Ambassador before inviting them to take a seat:

"Ambassador, thank you for coming, I trust your journey wasn't too bad? The morning traffic can be chaos sometimes!"​

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

The Ambassador would retrieve his diplomatic passport from the inside pocket of his blazer and hand it over to the stunning Swedish receptionist. Once his identity had been verified and the passport returned he followed the receptionist to the security checkpoint where he would place his briefcase (in which could be seen documents and pens) on the conveyor belt of the X-Ray machine. He himself would step through the metal detector after discarding his watch, phone, wallet, pen, and some loose coins. If no alarms would ring then the Ambassador would retrieve his items and briefcase and followed his escort to the office of the Assistant Secretary.

As the Assistant Secretary stepped towards him the Ambassador would extend his hand in greeting. "Assistant Secretary, thank you for meeting me. Thankfully the distance between my embassy and your office is a short one, if the traffic does ever get too bad then I might consider cycling to your office instead," he would say with a wink. The Ambassador pressed on with the polite small talk, "How are you doing on this fine day?"

Connor

 

[Connor]

"Well, we love a healthy lifestyle choice in Stockholm!" she chuckles with a light snort which she awkwardly dosguises by immediatrly gripping thr Ambassadors hand in a firm handshske - the awkwardness not dissipating an ounce from her internal thought process and she recovers the conversation "I've been keen to start cycling more often myself to be honest, I don't live too far from the office and it'd be a lovely journey to work in the summer - I'm doing extremely well, thank you for asking, I've been busy in meetings for most of the morning but I've been looking forward to having a good overdue chat with you." she smiles, taking a seat once she guides the Ambassador to a small seating arrangement within the office where a table lay in between them and a glass of water laid out on either side.

She takes a brief sip of water before opening a black conference folder. "I'm all honesty the past year or so has been fairly chaotic in Europe - maybe bridges were burned which I strongly believe as a country we need to work to rebuild. My largest concern is the growing resentment of the Global Assembly which could see our only independent international organisation become redundant in its powers"

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"I would certainly encourage you to take on cycling, it is such an amazing feeling to cycle through the crisp morning air. In my opinion it does a much better job of waking me up in the morning than coffee does, with the added benefit of being healthier and more climate conscious as well."

The Ambassador moved himself to the seating area along side the Assistant Secretary. He placed his briefcase beside him on the sofa before opening the clasps and removing a notepad and pen from within. "It feels like we have lost much in the last year, through conflict and instability, violence seems to have become a more prevalent choice than dialogue. We are eager to operate alongside the Kingdom of Sweden in re-establishing stability on the European continent in order to encourage diplomacy, security and prosperity."

"I fear that the Global Assembly has become so inefficient that we may need to question its goals. Should it act merely as a forum which allows all nations to have an equal voice on the international stage, or should it be granted more responsibilities at the risk of alienating nations which might only return us to where we are now. While I would be happy to discuss certain ideas for reforming the organisation, I do believe it goes beyond merely our two nations and that it might be beneficial in establishing a working group with likeminded states to dicsuss proper tangible reforms."

"My government however believes that in the short term there is more to gain in European cooperation, there are plenty of policy areas where cooperation is mutually beneficial, and as one of the leading European states we are eager to cooperate with Sweden on these issues."

Connor

 

[Connor]

"I do agree that violence appears to be the go-to choice of resolution; we have noticed a particular shift in particularly European and African governmental ideology which adopts a heavy investment in military capability recently which I think has naturally fed into the hostile nature worldwide. Starting at home, in Europe, is the only real way we can begin to make a difference in encompassing ethics, morals and values which have been embraced for centuries to rebuild what's been lost over the past few years."

A quick sip of water is taken before the Assistant Secretary continues...

"We've campaigned for a strong redefinition of the Global Assembly for some time; we hit back hard when the former Brazilian and Turkish ambassadors attempted to overthrown the Secretariat with some sort of half-thought-out protest. I do believe that perhaps, as you say, with establishing a working group of likeminded governments we may have a real chance to draft a resolution to uphold the essential service that the assembly provides. But yes, of course this is a huge goal to achieve and we must start small.

We must start with the relationship between the Netherlands and Sweden. Let me first start by asking - what are your government's focusses over the next few years?"

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"And when you say redefinition, what may what should I relay to The Hague? Has your government discussed a basic outline for the reforms you desire?"

"At he moment the Netherlands is taking a two pronged approach. As the world has become more dangerous, we cannot idle and must reinforce our military's defensive and support capabilities. This means a significant investment into military equipment and personnel. On that topic, I was hoping to pass on a list of equipment the Netherlands would be interested in procuring from Sweden. I am aware this may not be your department, though I was hoping you may be willing to forward this list to the Department of Defence on our behalf." The Ambassador would open his briefcase and retrieve a single piece of official paper which bared the logo of the Ministry of Defence and listed the desired equipment. "If you could request the relevant department to reach out to the Ministry of Defence then that would be greatly appreciated."

Official Defence Document

• [4] Saab 340 AEW&C
• [8] Saab 105
• [2] Gotland-class Submarine

"Our second approach is through dialogue, at the moment the government's focus is to foster cooperation on the European continent. There are a few idea that we are looking to float and guage interest in. These range from establishing an organisation, possibly called 'Forum Europaeum', to act as a multilateral forum where European nations can come together to discuss multinational issues ranging from defence and security, to economic and monetary policy. Such an organisation would however be limited to merely acting as a forum, with cooperation being done at a multilateral level between states willing to participate in specific programmes of cooperation. Secondly, another angle of cooperation which we specifically perceive Sweden playing a key role in would be the establishment of a 'European Development & Investment Bank'. Considering Sweden's significant financial reserves, this idea would require your country's participation to truly become an infuential organisation in fostering economic growth on the continent. If any of these ideas possibly interest your government, then I would be happy to discuss them further, or you or another representative of your government can reach out at any time."

"If I may return the same question, what is Sweden focussing on for the next few years?"

Connor

 

[Connor]

"We haven't explored the specifics of reforms we'd like to see - fundamentally we want to reinforce the overarching power that the assembly has particularly in and around international law and the settlement of disputes. Unfortunately the revolt displayed by Brazil, Turkey and the former government of Korea went a long way to undermine the institution.

Well, Ambassador, we have had a long and close relationship with the Netherlands over the years and having recently come to the end of a full Armed Forces review ourselves I can only agree with you that there is a fundamental requirement for domestic military security. The world is not only becoming more dangerous but also much more technologically advanced - something we must regularly update and reform to keep ahead of. Obviously I am not in a position to comment on the specifics of this document, I can certainly pass it onwards to the Department of Defence for review; I don't foresee any reason why they would have issue with your request.

Forum Europaeum sounds extremely intriguing, something we would be keen to express and interest in and if you were to hear anything further from your government then I would ask that you keep us in the loop. Recent incidents has shown that collaboration, particular in Europe, makes for a substantial deterrent and not only that makes for huge economic success - and of course, as you mention, we are always looking for an opportunity to use our reserves as a way to assist in the 'greater good'.

Fundamentally over the next year, in my department, are are focussing around domestic security and the security of our diplomatic missions around the world as part of Operation Scimitar; we have seen two terror attacks in our terrotories in close succession which saw to the death of senior foreign dignitaries on visit. This is unacceptable. We intend to develop a clear memorandum of understanding personalised dependant on the perceived threat, harm and risk to a particular individual, nation or asset - this will include plans from the point of arrival all the way to the point of departure. Both home and abroad. In the grander scheme of things our administration is focussing on local infrastructure in South Africa which will include a planned fourteen billion dollar investment with a key focus on housing, public services, public transportation and key travel infrastructure."

Dutchy

 

[Dutchy]

"If you would not mind forwarding those requests to the Department of Defence then they can have some time to review it before the Ministry of Defence reaches out to make the formal requests of purchase."

"I will ensure that Sweden remains in the loop on any progress regarding an organisation aimed to encourage European cooperation. At this moment I am merely testing the idea across the various European powers to see if there is a desire for such an organisation and whether states would be willing to establish working groups to further develop the idea."

In regards to security, a query I have been requested to pass on is whether Sweden desires any enchanced security around its diplomatic missions in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. At the moment missions are already secured by the National Police, though extra measures can be enacted if desired. We would merely require a formal request by the Head of Mission or by a high-level representative of your government."

Connor

 

[Dutchy]

Connor