Latest news with #JanValeskog
Local Sweden
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Stockholm v Trump: 'If US embassy wanted a building permit, they would have a problem'
Stockholm's city government has missed a deadline from the US government to certify that they do not have any Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programmes. Jan Valeskog, the city's deputy mayor, explained why he has rejected this 'bizarre' request. Advertisement On Friday, May 9th, the Stockholm City Planning Department, missed the ten-day deadline to submit a signed document requested by the US government on April 29th, something Jan Valeskog, the deputy mayor responsible for the planning department, said he had never intended to do. "It's bizarre, because it goes against everything we stand for, and also against Swedish law," he told The Local. "All municipalities are working with anti-discrimination. It's unbelievable." READ ALSO: Stockholm hits back at US embassy's 'completely bizarre' anti-DEI contract On Tuesday, April 29th, Stockholm's city's planning department received an email from the US embassy, giving them 10 days to sign a document certifying that they "do not operate programs promoting DEI", along with what looked like a threat to withhold payment. The city government, the US embassy wrote, should "agree that such certification is material for the government's payment decision", suggesting that the Stockholm city government would be "subject to the False Claims Act", under which suppliers to the US government risk fines of up to $10,000. Advertisement The letter enforces US President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14173, which, among other things, forbids US government agencies from "allowing federal contractors and subcontractors to engage in workforce balancing based on race, color, sex, sexual preference, religion, or national origin". The US embassy, like all other US government agencies, is required under the executive order to include a term in all future contracts, "requiring such counterparty or recipient to certify that it does not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws". Valeskog told The Local had been hoping that the US embassy or the State Department would withdraw the demand before the deadline passed. "We are expecting them to withdraw this and maybe say that they are sorry," he said. "I'm not sure [US President] Trump has ever used these words, but this could have been the first time. There were rumours they were going to issue a statement last Friday, but they didn't." Advertisement Permit problems Valeskog said that if the US embassy in Stockholm were to cancel contracts or freeze payments because of a refusal to sign the document, they would only damage themselves. "Every fourth year, the embassy wants a building permit and if they want to get the building permit, they need to cooperate with us and if they don't want to do that, they would have a problem." Christopher Fjellner, the leader of the opposition Moderate Party, called on city government to take an even more robust approach, threatening to cut off municipal services like hot water or garbage collection. "It's them who are dependent on our garbage collection, our hot water, and our sewage treatment, so if they want to do without them, I say good luck to them!" he told Sweden's public radio broadcaster SR. Government's job to protest Fjellner also called for the Social Democrat-led city government to demand a meeting with the embassy, something Valeskog rejected. "This is a real misunderstanding. We are not allowed to do foreign policy, so we cannot take 'revenge' on the embassy or call the embassy personnel up to the city offices. That's not for us to do, it's for the government, but they are silent. A lot of governments are silent for some reason when it comes to Trump administration. It's a very strange situation."
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Stockholm City Council rejects US Embassy demands to end DEI programming
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Stockholm City Council has rejected the U.S. Embassy's demands that it comply with the Trump administration's rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion policies. It's the latest in U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to terminate such programs within the federal government — and beyond — in what he described in his inauguration speech as a move to end efforts to 'socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.' Countries and cities across Europe have received similar outreach from U.S. embassies, including France, Belgium and the city of Barcelona, all of which lashed out at the U.S. efforts to expand its anti-DEI policies to the continent. In an email to the city's planning office, dated April 29, the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm asked that Stockholm officials sign a certification that their contractors do not operate any programs promoting DEI that would violate U.S. anti-discrimination law. The city council said Friday that it will not comply with the embassy's demands or respond officially. 'We were really surprised, of course,' Jan Valeskog, vice mayor for city planning, told The Associated Press. 'We will not sign this document at all, of course not.' Valeskog said that while the city wants to continue its good relationship with the embassy, it will follow Swedish law and city policies to include DEI practices. The Associated Press
Associated Press
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Stockholm City Council rejects US Embassy demands to end DEI programming
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Stockholm City Council has rejected the U.S. Embassy's demands that it comply with the Trump administration's rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion policies. It's the latest in U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to terminate such programs within the federal government — and beyond — in what he described in his inauguration speech as a move to end efforts to 'socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.' Countries and cities across Europe have received similar outreach from U.S. embassies, including France, Belgium and the city of Barcelona, all of which lashed out at the U.S. efforts to expand its anti-DEI policies to the continent. In an email to the city's planning office, dated April 29, the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm asked that Stockholm officials sign a certification that their contractors do not operate any programs promoting DEI that would violate U.S. anti-discrimination law. The city council said Friday that it will not comply with the embassy's demands or respond officially. 'We were really surprised, of course,' Jan Valeskog, vice mayor for city planning, told The Associated Press. 'We will not sign this document at all, of course not.' Valeskog said that while the city wants to continue its good relationship with the embassy, it will follow Swedish law and city policies to include DEI practices.
The Guardian
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Stockholm rejects US letter urging city to reverse diversity initiatives
A city official in Stockholm has said that the municipality has no plans to comply after one of its offices received a letter seeking to impose Donald Trump's rollback of diversity measures, in what is believed to be the first such missive sent to a foreign government. 'It's so bizarre,' said Jan Valeskog, Stockholm's planning vice mayor. 'It's our political priorities that count, not the ones from this embassy or any other embassies.' In March, European officials lambasted the US after companies across the continent said they had received letters informing them that the Trump administration's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives also applied to foreign firms looking to do business with the US government. The letter – described by French officials as 'a form of interference' – asked recipients to complete, sign and return a form certifying that they 'do not operate any programmes to promote diversity, equity and inclusion'. The letter also noted: 'If you do not agree to sign this document, we would appreciate it if you could provide detailed reasons, which we will forward to our legal teams.' In Stockholm, Valeskog said he had received the letter on Tuesday. 'We were really surprised, because diversity, equality and inclusion are values that we strive for and stand up for in Stockholm,' he said. 'It's very important for us.' He presumed that the letter was sent to the planning office because it was listed as a payee, given that it charges for building permits. Still, it was the first time he had heard of one of these letters being directed at a municipality or foreign government. 'It's quite unique,' he said. After Valeskog spoke to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter about the letter, emails and social media responses came pouring in from city residents and others across Sweden. 'Thousands of people are really upset,' he said. 'I guess most people are following the news about what is happening in the States. But suddenly it felt closer with these demands.' For months – despite research showing that companies with greater gender and ethnic diversity are more likely to significantly outperform their peers – Trump's administration has targeted efforts to ensure that people of all backgrounds, including historically marginalised groups such as women and people of colour, can gain a foothold and thrive at organisations. Valeskog said Stockholm had no intention of complying. 'Of course, we'll not sign it, we won't return it, we'll do nothing about it,' he said. 'So now it's up to the embassy to decide what happens next.' The spate of US letters come at a delicate moment for the transatlantic relationship, which has been left rattled by threats of escalating tariffs, security concerns and the Signal leaks that laid bare the Trump administration's disdain for Europe. On Tuesday Valeskog called on the embassy, with whom they had traditionally had a good relationship, to withdraw the letter. Two days later, there had been no reaction. 'They don't have an ambassador, maybe that's the reason – I don't know,' he said. After describing the fallout over the letter as 'their headache, not ours' earlier in the week, he again stressed that the US embassy stood to lose much more if they decided to break off their relationship with the municipality. 'The embassy now and then needs our building permits, of course, so it's in their interest to have a good contact and cooperation with the city of Stockholm,' he said. 'And so this is really strange.' He said his office would continue to wait for some sort of response from the Americans. 'I mean it's quite big news, not only in Sweden but also in other countries,' he said. 'So we'll see what happens.'
Local Sweden
08-05-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
'Completely bizarre': Stockholm hits back at US embassy's anti-DEI contract
The US Embassy has sent a letter to Stockholm council's city planning office demanding it signs a contract confirming that it does not work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), Swedish media report. Advertisement According to Dagens Nyheter (DN), who reported the story, the embassy has given the city planning office ten working days to sign and return the contract. "We have no plans to do that," city planning councillor Jan Valeskog told the newspaper, describing it as "completely bizarre". "It goes against everything we stand for." "If the US stops working with the city planning office then the embassy would find it very difficult to get planning permission if they want to renovate. That's their headache, not ours," he said. The letter comes after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January to end DEI programmes in federal agencies, writing up a list of over 40 companies he believes to be in violation of these rules. The US recently demanded large European companies follow Trump's anti-DEI presidential order. Swedish company Ericsson recently made headlines for removing mentions of DEI work in its most recent annual report, although it denied that the changes to its annual report were related to Trump. US embassies across the world have also been ordered to demand that their suppliers follow this decree, including confirming that they do not have DEI programmes or policies, else risk their payments being frozen and contracts cancelled. In Spain, suppliers have been contacted by the US embassy in Madrid and asked to sign a document certifying that they do not apply any internal policies on 'diversity and inclusion' that could 'violate US anti-discrimination laws,' with a five-day deadline to do so, and the French trade ministry has condemned "unacceptable" US interference after the American embassy in Paris sent several French companies anti-DEI letters. Advertisement According to Reuters, these demands take the form of a questionnaire entitled "Certification Regarding Compliance With Applicable Federal Anti-Discrimination Law," and have been sent to a wide range of companies, including newspapers where embassies hold subscriptions and utility companies used by embassy employees for their private properties. Earlier in May, DN reported that similar letters have been set to companies in Stockholm. "Swedish companies are according to the Discrimination Law responsible for working actively and preventatively to combat discrimination and promote equal rights – for example on grounds of gender, ethnic belonging or disability," Equality Minister Nina Larsson told the newspaper. "Otherwise there may be consequences. Companies should feel secure in the fact that Swedish law continues to apply. It's also important that we – both politicians and people in industry – are clear on this when speaking to foreign clients."
