Sweden to close New York and LA consulates
David Landes · 23 Jul 2009, 11:54
Published: 23 Jul 2009 11:54 GMT+02:00
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The official announcement of the closures, which have been rumoured for months, comes despite vociferous opposition to the move from US-based Swedes and the Swedish business community.
In addition to the closings in the US, Sweden will also shutter consulates in Guangzhou, China and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, as well as the embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
In announcing the closures, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt blamed the move on budget shortfalls begun under the previous Social Democratic government.
“When I took office as Minister for Foreign Affairs in autumn 2006, the Ministry had a budget deficit of over 50 million kronor ($6.6 million). The deficit had been built up over several years and the previous government maintained activities that had no financing,” Bildt said in a statement.
“With these changes, we will balance the budget and at the same time renew working methods.”
The cuts are part of a broader cost-savings effort which will reduce the ministry’s real estate outlays by 50 million kronor annually and eliminate 100 positions by the end of 2010.
When rumours about the possible closure of Sweden's consulates general in New York and Los Angeles began circulating earlier this spring, many US-based Swedes as well as members of the Swedish business community voiced their displeasure over the plans.
The Swedish American Chamber of Commerce of New York (SACC-NY) warned of “monumental negative consequences” and sent a letter to Bildt urging him to reconsider the decision.
But in the end, the ministry's budgetary challenges took precedence.
According to the ministry, Sweden’s consulate-general in Los Angeles will be closed by the end of 2009, at which point the embassy in Washington, DC will take over responsibility for the nine honourary consulates which currently report to the Los Angeles consulate.
Efforts are also underway to find a way to open an honourary consulate in Los Angeles at some point in the future, according to the foreign ministry.
Closure of the Consulate-General in New York is expected to be completed by January 31st, 2010. Curent plans call for the current consulate to be replaced by an honourary consulate to provide some services to Swedish citizens in the area.
International trade matters will continue to be handled in New York by the Swedish Trade Council (Exportrådet) and the Invest in Sweden Agency, with additional responsibilities falling to the embassy in Washington.
The closure of the consulate-general in Kaliningrad is set to be completed by October 31st or this year, with the consulate-general in Guangzhou is set to be closed a month later.
The ministry expects the closure of the embassy in Colombo to be completed by March 31st, 2010.
Your comments about this article
i hope the swedes won't get too mad over this!(atleast you have free health care) wash dc isn't that far away by bus or train,it's sweden way to save money when money is an issue these days.
As for "free" health care.. we pay enormous amount of taxes to fund this. With waiting lists for 1 to 2 years for knee surgery or other small problems..So nothing is for free...
Often used by connected Swedes as a venue to impress their new NYC employers
But ordinary Swedes must use it occasionally in an emergency (passport reissue etc)
FWIW, why don't the Nordic countries share one consulate??
OK Norway is not in the EU, but SE, DK and FI are
Sweden plus a couple of its neighbours would add up to a region more populous than the Netherlands (16.2 million people) for example ... which I guess would give economies of scale
LA though...they really should have something over there.
by american standards it's FREE or little next to nothing. LA should have a consulate office,where is the nearest consulate office in LA or near california?
well if the citiies kommune's didn't spend the tax money on unless things and put the tax money forwards health care. you wouldn't have to waite 1 or 2 years for an knee operation(in the 60's taxes in sweden was at 27%), the health care then was great!
I guess for people on the west coast or atleast for Californians, it will work the same way, just the application will be forwarded to DC. It will probably raise the cost they charge to ship your documents...lol.
And traveling back to the home land would cost even more.
The Honorary Consulates don't do passports any longer, so they are of no help to us either.
Is this another notch in the expansion of the US legal and 'global support' system?
Will the Embassy alone be able to respond to a natural disaster 5000 Km away? Swedes are now required to appear in person when renewing their passports. If you lose your passport while in the U. S., will you have to travel to Washington D. C. to get a temporary passport to travel home?
As a budget cutting effort this really isn't going to make a significant change in the overall Foreign Ministry. It will have a significant financial impact on Swedish citizens living in the affected countries. Maybe other cost cutting efforts could have been made through out the Foreign Ministry such as cutting residence allowances for consular staff and staff reductions as well.
As for this 1-2 years for a knee operation. Under the Swedish health care system if a service can not be offered within 90 days you can have the procedure done privately and the state will have to pick up the cost. I work in Emergency medicine and I moved to Sweden from the US and Sweden's system is just as good as the US one for quality of care but without the bankruptcy at the end of it.