Sweden–United States relations

Swedish–American relations reach back to the days of the American Revolutionary War. The Kingdom of Sweden was the first country not formally engaged in the conflict (though thousands of Swedish volunteers partook on the side of the patriots[1]) to recognize the United States of America before the Treaty of Paris. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce was signed subsequently in 1783 between Benjamin Franklin and Swedish representative Gustaf Philip Creutz.

Swedish–American relations

Sweden
United States
A ship leaving the port in Gothenburg, Sweden, on its way to America.
Olof Palme demonstrating side by side with North Vietnam ambassador Nguyen Tho Chyan on February 21, 1968 in Stockholm.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and US President George W. Bush at the White House on May 15, 2007.
President Trump and Swedish Prime Minister Löfven give a joint statement at the White House in March 2018

According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 36% of Swedes approve of U.S. leadership, with 30% disapproving and 34% uncertain.[2]

Under a comprehensive mandate, Sweden's nonalignment policy has led it to serve as the protecting power for the United States and to represent Washington in North Korea on consular matters.[3]

History of relations
See also: Swedish colonization of the Americas and Swedish emigration to the United States

Like many European powers, Sweden participated in the colonization of America that started in the 17th century. The first Swedish colony along the banks of the Delaware River was established in 1638 (see New Sweden).

Sweden under king Gustavus III was the first country not engaged in the American Revolutionary War to recognize the young American republic. The Swedish Count Axel von Fersen was a distinguished soldier during the war, serving as an interpreter between General Rochambeau and General Washington. Also the Swedish count Curt von Stedingk, led the second assault during the Siege of Savannah in 1779. Both were made members of the Society of the Cincinnati.

In 1783 the United States' Ambassador to Paris, Benjamin Franklin, and the Swedish Ambassador, Count Gustaf Philip Creutz, signed a Treaty of Amity and Commerce.[4]

From 1801-02, Sweden was allied with the United States during the First Barbary War, fought against the Barbary corsairs to prevent further disruption of trade in the Mediterranean Sea.[5]

During the period between 1820–1930 approximately 1.3 million Swedes, a third of the country's population, emigrated to North America and most of them to the United States. Like the Irish diaspora it was sparked by poverty in Sweden, which was exacerbated during bad years. Only Britain (especially Ireland) and Norway had a higher emigration rate. Most of the Swedish emigrants settled in the central and Western United States. By 1910, Chicago had a greater population of Swedes than Gothenburg. Minnesota was also a place where many Swedish emigrants settled. The majority of Swedish-Americans fought in the American Civil War on the Union side.[6] (See also John Ericsson USS Monitor)

The first Swedish head of government who met with a US President was Prime Minister Tage Erlander, who visited Harry S. Truman at the White House in 1952.

The period between 1960 and 1968 also marked a cold period in the political relations between Sweden and the U.S., mainly due to the Swedish government's vocal opposition to the Vietnam War. In February 1968, the US recalled its Ambassador from Sweden after the Swedish Minister of Education and future prime minister Olof Palme, a Social Democrat, had participated in a protest in Stockholm against the war together with the North Vietnamese Ambassador to the Soviet Union Nguyen Tho Chan.[7] The post of US Ambassador to Sweden remained vacant until February 1970. In December 1972, Olof Palme (then Prime Minister) made a speech on Swedish national radio where he compared the ongoing US bombings of Hanoi to some of the worst atrocities committed by the Nazis. The US government called the comparison a "gross insult" and once again decided to freeze its diplomatic relations with Sweden (this time the freeze lasted for over a year).[7]

Relations improved when Thorbjörn Fälldin became Swedish prime minister in 1976, and following the assassination of Olof Palme in 1986 and the succession of Ingvar Carlsson as new Prime Minister, Swedish-American relations improved. Ingvar Carlsson met with President Ronald Reagan in 1987, the first time that a Swedish Prime Minister was invited to the White House since 1961, when Erlander paid a visit to Kennedy.

Carlsson's successor as Prime Minister, Carl Bildt, visited both President George H. W. Bush in 1992 and President Bill Clinton in 1994.

Immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Swedish government expressed its sympathies with the U.S. and supported the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.[8][9] However, like many other European governments, Sweden opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq, reasoning that the invasion was a breach of international law.[10] However, Prime Minister Göran Persson was relatively mild in his criticism of the U.S. compared to Olof Palme's strong criticism during the Vietnam War.

In the Statement of Government Policy presented to the Riksdag on October 6, 2006, the new centre-right Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt declared that the new government will work for a "strengthening of the transatlantic link". Reinfeldt's party, the Moderate Party, is more pro-American than the social democrats and supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq and Swedish membership of NATO. Reinfeldt visited President Bush at the White House on May 15, 2007.

Following President Donald Trump's first 2020 presidential campaign rally at which he referred to "what's happening last night in Sweden" the Swedish government requested clarification of from the U.S. State Department in regards to Trump's understanding of what was going on in Sweden.[11][12] On February 19, the Cabinet of Sweden requested an explanation from the White House and the Swedish Embassy in the United States offered to inform the US administration in the future about Swedish immigration and integration policies.[13] On February 23, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs referred to discussions about Sweden's refugee policies as "simplistic and occasionally completely inaccurate."[14] On March 6, 2018 Prime Minister Stefan Löfven visited the United States and met with President Donald Trump.

In June 2019, American rapper ASAP Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, was arrested and held on remand in Sweden over a physical altercation in Stockholm. President Donald Trump made several tweets where he demanded that the Swedish government release Mayers. A spokesperson for prime minister Löfven released a statement in response to Trump's request which stated that the government was not allowed to influence legal proceedings in Sweden and that "everyone is equal before the law".[15]

Economic relations

The United States and Sweden have strong economic relations. The United States is currently the third-largest Swedish export trade partner,[16] and U.S. companies are the most represented foreign companies in Sweden.

Military relations

Although Sweden has a longstanding policy of political neutrality in international affairs, Sweden is a participant in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. Sweden currently participates with around 500 troops in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), under the command of NATO, in Afghanistan. Four parties represented in the Parliament, the centre-right Alliance, support NATO membership. During the Libyan Civil War of 2011, the Swedish Air Force worked closely with NATO and USA.

During the Cold War, the Swedish government secretly made preparations to receive military aid from the United States in case of Soviet aggression.[17]

Sweden also aided the US in secrecy, possibly most famously when four Swedish pilots were awarded US Air Medals for saving[18] the highly classified Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane out of Soviet hands.

The US pilots of the SR-71 has stated that had Sweden not intervened and escorted the plane to safety a dramatic escalation to the cold war could have occurred through an international crisis.[19] The event had been classified for over 30 years, and when the report was unsealed, data from the NSA showed that several MiG-25s had been dispatched with the order to shoot down the SR-71 or force it to land after it had gotten an engine failure. A MiG-25 had locked a missile on the damaged SR-71, but as the aircraft was under escort by the Swedish Saab 37 Viggen pilots no missiles were fired. On 29 November 2018, the four Swedish pilots involved were awarded medals from the US Air Force.

Reflecting the fact that Sweden has a higher proportion of English speakers than most other countries which were never part of the British Empire, Swedish producers and songwriters have played a significant role in the sound of American pop music since the 1990s. One in particular, Max Martin, has written and produced more Billboard Hot 100 number one hits than any American songwriter or producer.[20]

List of visits
Guest Host Place of visit Date of visit
Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf - Later King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. President Calvin Coolidge John Ericsson National Memorial &
The White House, Washington, D.C.		 May 29, 1926
Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland
Crown Princess Louise		 President Franklin D. Roosevelt Wilmington, Delaware
Springwood, Hyde Park, New York		 June 27, 1938
July 1, 1938
Prime Minister Tage Erlander President Harry S. Truman White House, Washington, D.C. April 14, 1952
Prime Minister Tage Erlander President Dwight D. Eisenhower White House, Washington, D.C. November 24, 1954
Prime Minister Tage Erlander President John F. Kennedy White House, Washington, D.C. March 29, 1961
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson King Gustaf VI Adolf Uppsala Cathedral & Uppsala Castle, Uppsala, Sweden September 29, 1961
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson King Gustaf VI Adolf
Prime Minister Tage Erlander		 Sofiero Palace, Helsingborg, Sweden
Kanslihuset, Stockholm, Sweden		 September 4, 1963
September 5, 1963
Prime Minister Tage Erlander
Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland		 President Lyndon B. Johnson
Mrs. John F. Kennedy		 Cathedral of St. Matthews &
The White House, Washington, D.C.		 November 25, 1963
King Carl XVI Gustaf President Gerald Ford White House, Washington, D.C. April 5, 1976[21]
Prime Minister Ola Ullsten President Jimmy Carter
Vice President Walter Mondale		 White House, Washington, D.C. January 18, 1979
Vice President Walter Mondale Prime Minister Ola Ullsten Kanslihuset, Stockholm, Sweden May 1979
King Carl XVI Gustaf President Ronald Reagan White House, Washington, D.C. November 22, 1981
Vice President George H.W. Bush Prime Minister Olof Palme Rosenbad, Stockholm, Sweden June 27, 1983
First Lady Nancy Reagan King Carl XVI Gustaf Stockholm, Sweden June 1987
Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson President Ronald Reagan White House, Washington, D.C. September 9, 1987
King Carl XVI Gustaf President Ronald Reagan White House, Washington, D.C. April 11, 1988
Prime Minister Carl Bildt President George H. W. Bush White House, Washington, D.C. February 20, 1992
Prime Minister Carl Bildt President Bill Clinton White House, Washington, D.C. December 1, 1993
Prime Minister Göran Persson President Bill Clinton White House, Washington, D.C. August 6, 1996
President George W. Bush King Carl XVI Gustaf
Prime Minister Göran Persson		 Gunnebo Slott, Residenset &
Svenska Mässan, Gothenburg, Sweden		 June 14, 2001
Prime Minister Göran Persson President George W. Bush White House, Washington, D.C. December 3, 2001
Prime Minister Göran Persson President George W. Bush White House, Washington, D.C. April 28, 2004
King Carl XVI Gustaf President George W. Bush White House, Washington, D.C. October 23, 2006
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt President George W. Bush White House, Washington, D.C. May 15, 2007
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt President Barack Obama White House, Washington, D.C. November 2, 2009
President Barack Obama King Carl XVI Gustaf
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt		 Rosenbad, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Synagogue &
the Royal Palace, Stockholm, Sweden		 September 4–5, 2013
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven President Barack Obama White House, Washington, D.C., Arlington National Cemetery[22] May 13, 2016[23]
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven President Donald Trump White House, Washington, D.C. March 6, 2018
gollark: <@284397085959258112> lineage?
gollark: 60 cheeses & 2 chickens? They're that rare?
gollark: Neglecteds were all destroyed in the War.
gollark: Qjhgd.
gollark: You buy eggs with "shards".

See also

Further reading

References
  1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1919238?seq=1
  2. "THE U.S.-GLOBAL LEADERSHIP PROJECT : A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE MERIDIAN INTERNATIONAL CENTER AND GALLUP" (PDF). Gallup.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  3. "About the Embassy". Embassy of Sweden, Pyongyang. In particular, Sweden functions as Protective Power for the United States ... including consular responsibility for citizens.
  4. "American Memory from the Library of Congress". Memory.loc.gov. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  5. "First Barbary War". Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. August 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  6. http://www.hhogman.se/the-american-civil-war.htm
  7. Andersson, Stellan. "Olof Palme och Vietnamfrågan 1965–1983" (in Swedish). olofpalme.org. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
  8. "Utrikesminister Anna Lindh med anledning av terrorattacken i USA | Press & info | Utrikesdepartementet | Departement | Regeringskansliet". Archived from the original on November 9, 2001.
  9. "Riksdagens snabbprotokoll 2001/02:13 Onsdagen den 17 oktober Protokoll 2001/02:13 - Riksdagen". Riksdagen.se. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  11. Topping, Alexandra. "'Sweden, who would believe this?': Trump cites non-existent terror attack". The Guardian. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  12. Jennifer Calfas (February 19, 2017), Sweden offers to teach Trump about its immigration policies, The Hill, retrieved February 23, 2017
  13. Embassy of Sweden US [@SwedeninUSA] (February 19, 2017). "We look forward to informing the US administration about Swedish immigration and integration policies" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. "Facts about migration and crime in Sweden". Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. February 23, 2017. Archived from the original on February 24, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  15. "A$AP Rocky: Donald Trump demands Sweden release US rapper charged with assault". Sky News. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  16. https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/trade-in-goods-and-services/foreign-trade/foreign-trade---exports-and-imports-of-goods/pong/tables-and-graphs/exports-to-our-30-largest-trade-partners/
  17. SOU 1994:11 Om kriget kommit... Förberedelser för mottagande av militärt bistånd 1949–1969
  18. https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/12/30/finally-declassified-swedish-pilots-awarded-us-air-medals-for-saving-sr-71-spy-plane/
  19. https://www.stripes.com/news/cold-war-declassified-swedish-pilots-honored-for-protecting-crippled-us-spy-plane-from-soviets-1.558582
  20. "The Weeknd's 'Can't Feel My Face' Gives Max Martin His 21st No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100".
  21. Memorandum of Conversation Gerald R. Ford Library, Accessed on May 17, 2010
  22. Holmqvist, Anette (May 13, 2016). "Stefan Löfven anländer till Vita huset" [Stefan Löfven arrives at the White House]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  23. "Statement by the Press Secretary on the U.S.-Nordic Leaders Summit". White House Office of the Press Secretary. March 18, 2016. Retrieved May 13, 2016.

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