A letter from the United States has been received at one of the offices of the municipality of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, urging the city to cancel diversity programs, as the Donald Trump administration has done.
This is reported by The Guardian.
Stockholmʼs Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning and Sports, Jan Valeskog, to whose office the letter was sent, called it "simply absurd".
"We were very surprised because diversity, equality and inclusion are values that we stand for in Stockholm," he emphasized.
The official said it was the first time he had heard of such a letter addressed to a municipality or a foreign government. He told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter about the incident. The Swedes began to comment actively.
"Thousands of people are really angry. I think most people are following the news about whatʼs happening in the US. But these demands have suddenly become more tangible," Valeskog added.
The letter stated that "if you do not agree to sign this document, we would appreciate it if you would provide a detailed explanation, which we will pass on to our legal teams."
Valeskog stated that Stockholm was not going to comply with the demands of the letter, sign it and return it with explanations, and emphasized that now the decision is up to the embassy as to what to do next.
The deputy mayorʼs office is waiting for some kind of response from the Americans.
"I mean, this is pretty big news, and not just in Sweden, but in other countries as well. So letʼs see what happens next," Valeskog concluded.
- In March, European officials already criticized Washington for sending letters to European companies stating that restrictions on diversity, equality, and inclusion initiatives introduced by the Trump administration also apply to foreign companies that want to work with the US government.
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