[Sweden]: Call to Italy

[Connor]

Government of Sweden
Löfven Administration

Security Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
Document Classification and Security Act 1995​

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A telephone call is made to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Jan Björklund, Ambassador for Sweden to Italy.
This telephone call is made in line with the Swedish Document Classification and Security Act 1995, which also covers telephonic communication, causing a 'CONFIDENTIAL' encryption level to be appended.

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

Tim

 

[Tim]

The assistant of the Minister of Foreign Affairs picked up the phone to check who was on the other side of the line, and he checked the encryption which stated confidential.

"Good afternoon, this is the assistant of Minister of Foreign Affairs Lamberto Dini, what can I help you with?" He said calmly, checking the minister's schedule at the same time to see if he is available.​

Connor​

 

[Connor]

Jan would lean back in his black leather office chair, pressing the landline against his ear as he eagerly sets upon his mission of further developing European ties with key members of the continent. Italy and Sweden has long had a fantastic relationship in previous administrations and a key focal point for the Swedish Department of Foreign Affairs was, fundamentally, to ensure that partner mentality continued.

"Good Afternoon Mr Dini, my name is Jan Björklund - I am calling on behalf of the Swedish Department of Foreign Affairs with the ambition to start dialogue between our nations and I was hoping the Minister was available for a conversation?"

Tim

 

[Tim]

"Okay mister Björklund please allow a moment as I redirect you to the minister's phone." The Swedish ambassador would hear a short waiting music. The Minister heard the phone go off and was informed by his assistant that it was ambassador Jan Björklund of Sweden calling. He took a sip out of his glass of water before picking up the phone and greeting the Ambassador. "Good afternoon ambassador Björkland, I hope you are doing well. To what do I owe this call?"​

Connor​

 

[Connor]

"Minister, what an absolute pleasure to speak to you, I hope you don't mind my unsolicited telephone call but I think we're well and truly overdue the opening of our bilateral relationship? Italy has long been a good friend of Sweden and I'd hate to see this depleted as a result of my effortlessness -... where are my manners, Minister, allow me to congratulate you on your appointment to cabinet and the recent election of your party into power. How are you finding public office?"

Tim

 

[Tim]

"Oh of course not, it's always a pleasure speaking with ambassadors, it's my job after all.

Thank you very much for the kind words. We are very glad to have a stable government once again and hope this one can last longer than we are sadly known for, and managing foreign relationships from the standpoint of a new administration is certainly an interesting perspective. If you do not mind me asking, are there any specific goals that you have with these talks of bilateral relationships or were you just wanting to have a talk so we can see where the mutual ground lies?"​

Connor​

 

[Connor]

"In all honesty Minister, a bit of both. My job in the eyes of central government is remain impartial, somewhat, my call comes purely from my own back to see where the interests of your party lay - as you can probably anticipate the views of the various governments that precede you have been from one extreme to the other and fundamentally I want to make sure that your core values match that of Sweden's. I have plans up my sleeve Minister, but I won't lay my cards out on the table so soon in our conversation!" he laughs briefly before continuing...

"So, what are the core interests of your government?"

Tim

 

[Tim]

"We are looking to uphold democracy and human rights anywhere in the world, ensuring the world is a safe place for everyone. As for now, we are of course interested in setting up mutually beneficial trade so we can have a large diversity of products for our population. And besides that comes of course the need to make allies whom we can depend on for protection, but that is something that will of course take time as one should expect."​

Connor​

 

[Connor]

"I am pleased to hear that and your membership in the Global Assembly echoes that sentiment. The focus on international trade and defence is a natural and important area of growth for any nation, I am encouraged that your focus seems to repeat time and time again - protection of your population and the insurance that the sanctuary we call home remains just that. Peaceful. While you seek alliance, is this within Europe or further afield? and how are you doing for domestic protections, is your military at a stage where you could defend yourself from an impending threat?"

Tim

 

[Tim]

"For alliances we do not know where to seek, our priorities are more with the countries and what they resemble than their location. Of course having allies close to you is nice, but when it comes down to it they have to be there for you, and distance is not a factor into that. But we are certainly looking for European partners. As for defence, we are currently building up a sizeable defence force that will be able to defend us from threats and be deployed worldwide. However ability to defend from a threat is of course always dependent on the threat, because not everything can be protected against."​

Connor​

 

[Connor]

"I see, I see - I would encourage you to be diligent in your opinion of nations worldwide, the current administration in Sweden has seen an uncountable number of nations grow and fall; as well as the unfortunate use of manipulate and abuse of lesser developed nations for their own objectives... which ties me in nicely to your national defence - I'm going to be honest here and say that Italy is pretty high up on the Swedish foreign policy agenda and that's echoed by other departments within the cabinet. Previously we have operate a sort of 'peacekeeping' role with nations undergoing extreme national defence growth to allow their focus to shift primarily on personal development rather than having to juggle the necessity to defend their borders too...-"

Jan pauses, taking a short sip of water and quietly clearly his throat before continuing "The Department of Foreign Affairs have contacted the Department of Defence and we're willing to provide a squadron operating, some of, if not the, most advanced fighter aircraft worldwide to provide a rapid reaction force within Italy, this will be coupled with the use of the Strategic Defence Network which is a series of submarine and surface radars networks covering a substantial portion of the globe. This rapid reaction force will be under the command of the Italian Armed Forces command structure during their deployment and will be stood down as soon as they are no longer required - no questions asked. How does this sound?"

 

[Connor]

Tim

 

[Tim]

"Hm, could you explain to me why we're that high on the foreign policy agenda? Of course we're looking for good and healthy cooperation but such extra interest must have a reason..." As the call went on he scribbled down a few things in his notebook while carefully listening to the ambassador. "That proposal does sound interesting but I'm not entirely sure. It's something that I will have to discuss with my colleague from Defence... You see, we don't really have any imminent threats and feel like we will be able to defend ourselves if necessary for long enough to call in the help of other countries, that is in the case of another country attacking us with no reason. And the chance of such an attack at the moment is very slim, and we are trying to remain somewhat neutral for now, not wanting to make any impulsive decisions on the diplomatic stage that could suddenly make us someone's enemy... I hope that makes sense to you. But again, the proposal is something that I will pass on to our minister of defence to see if he maybe thinks differently about it. Is this proposal something you could supply in written form with a bit more details -the amount of aircraft and staff among others- so we can make a fully informed decision?"​

Connor​

 

[Connor]

"Italy has long worked firmly alongside Sweden and cooperated in a wide range of affairs... Im not sure if I have made the impression that there is some kind of secret agenda but I assure you there is not. I personally would be pushed to encourage the other founding states of the Nordic Council to integrate Italy as a partner or observer state but I am overtly aware that any new government would want to plough their own path into international politics and I dont intend to pressure you towards cooperation with Europe."

"Naturally the presence of foreign forces in your borders is an extensive step but I assure you that this is entirely down to negotiation and is simply and extension of friendship to your government, again there's no obligation and I'll take no offence to a hard no. This does not only give you the capability for Swedish air defence but also gives the opportunity for your military personnel to cooperate, work and train alongside my own Royal Air Force which has seen numerous real-world deployments. The provision of protection should by no means make you anyones enemy - Sweden is too a member of the Global Assembly and we continue to work in line with international law with all our deployments. I can tell you right now that we currently have provisions in at least two other European states, in the process of military exercise with a third and in talks to extend our capabilities to disadvantaged states in the Middle East, our support is clear worldwide. I can definitely put something in writing but this kind of arrangement is outright subject to negotiation, we would never want to put something in writing that appears outlandish or unnecessary..."

Tim

 

[Tim]

"Apologies if I might have come over as super suspicious, I was just a bit surprised by your wording. We are very eager to work together with fellow European nations for mutual benefit. Such a proposal to immediately join such a council is indeed a bit too early to consider for us, first wanting to find out were we land on the international stage and if such an international body is something we want to be a member of."

"The new wording makes the military cooperation sound a lot more inviting. Our Air Force has undergone major reorganization and is currently ill-equipped, awaiting production of new aircraft so the opportunity to have access to these aircraft for our possible defence and training does sound a good opportunity for us to develop our Air Force personnel further. What kind of size are we talking about in terms of aircraft and personnel, both active and perhaps those with more training experience. And would this be purely done out of goodwill to a fellow European country or does your administration expect anything in return?"​

Connor​

 

[Connor]

"Membership into the Nordic Council is extremely exclusive and has been since its establishment, the arrangement of the council dictates that the vote amongst founding members must be unanimous to integrate a new state into the chambers - this rule does differ very slightly for a membership in the style of the Germans or in the form of a partnership but I too agree that an Italian introduction to the organisation is too early and greater cooperation between our states would need to be shown in order to persuade the board of shareholders and member states represented in the chamber.

We have one of, if not the, most experienced rapid reaction force in the world, we would be looking at the deployment of a single squadron from this air wing to provide the necessary training experience for your own Air Force personnel - this wing have the men and women that have served around the world. In addition to this the Department of Defence has set aside funding to establish a temporary air wing to provide the necessary coverage of Italian airspace and the capacity of this is something we would need to discuss should you wish to go ahead with the plans. These arrangements are a good will gesture, we simply require the necessary resources to operate from Italy which will need to include appropriate air base facilities and the provision for us to position air defence radar systems on-site to ensure our rapid reaction deployments can operate with the already established Strategic Defence Network - there is no cost, no small print, no hidden agenda. This is Sweden doing some good with our economy and our capabilities."

Tim

 

[Tim]

"Alright, thank you for providing me with some further information. I will inform our minister of defence and if he wishes to further inquire about such a deal, I assume he can contact your minister of defence?

I believe that rounds that topic of, seeing as I am not capable of saying more than a thank you for the gesture, since such a deal is not within my jurisdiction. So, what other topics do you have that you wish to discuss?" The minister had some topics ready, but first wanted to see if the Swedish ambassador had more prepared for their call.​

Connor​

 

[Connor]

"Of course Minister, the Secretary of Defence is ready and waiting for whatever decision you make and I must stress that no offence will be taken should it be decidsd that Italy doesn't require Sweden's support. I promise you that."

"Yes, I have a few subjects I'd like to discuss, the first of which being extradition. Its no secret that Sweden has, in the past, been victim tk the lack of extradition agreements internationally and this is something were keen to amend within Europe. Primarily we are establishing a network of modern, trustworthy judicial systems that are capable of detention and protection of the accused within the remit of the Declaration of Human Rights governed by the Global Assembly before we even consider developing this network. Whats the point? You may ask? Well the hope is that no matter where your offenders are in Europe, if they come into contact with foreign law enforcement that they see an Italian court as soon as possible- not only that but you also have a reliable network of justice departments which, if necessary, can operate as a safe haven for those you seek to repatriate from nations outside the network. Every European state is intertwined with another nation in the globe in some way, meaning that if we can get a majority involved then we can see the balance of fair and lawful custody reach a much higher percentage."

"So I guess my question is Minister, how is the Italian judicial system working at the moment and do you work within the confines of the Global Assembly resolutions and statues?"

Tim

 

[Tim]

"That sure is an interesting proposition. The Italian judicial system is working at a very high standard and there have been strong reforms to make sure that especially crime cases are all tried fairly. These reforms of course confine within all international law. As for extradition, it is something that we are willing to discuss with some clear limits of course. I doubt that between developed countries like us these are necessary but it is important to have clear limits and regulations on extradition to have the support of our coalition and the population.

As for these possible clauses a few would be double criminality, political crimes, unlawful punishment and the right to a fair trial. But I assume that these are all things that are mostly in order in both our countries.

If you don't mind me asking, does your country already have similar treaties with other countries?"​

Connor​

 

[Connor]

"We have a preliminary system in place with a number of other nations under the Allemennsrett Area agreement within the Nordic Council however this doesn't extend into wider Europe and we don't want this arrangement to be focused within the alliance, its the vision of the administration that we reach out to ensure continent-wide security.

Extradition is a complicated and sour subject filled with pot holes; we recently saw a large number of diplomatic staff have their immunity revoked and they were held indefinitely in foreign prisons before we had to begin bargaining for their release. They were refused their rights, we were not told of their location and they were never brought before a court. This is what we want to avoid happening again - it was traumatic, unlawful and saw extreme distress come to families and friends.

An agreement would be written collectively ensuring that all those involved had their concerns affirmed in writing. We will do the hard work, bringing nations into this arrangement, your support and interest in the project is enlightening and hopeful for expansion. To allow us to continue drafting this agreement, what areas do you want to ensure are covered?"

Tim