Swedish Embassy Tweets Offer To Trump Administration

The Swedish Embassy in the U.S. reached out to the administration of President Donald Trump via Twitter on Feb. 19, posting a statement about helping the administration learn about Swedish immigration and integration policies.

“We are more than happy to talk about the challenges our country faces as well as the things that are going well,” stated Henrik Selin, deputy director of the nation-promoting Swedish Institute, according to The New York Times.

The Swedish Embassy launched the tweet after Trump made an effort to publicly clarify previous comments concerning the national security of countries like Germany, Sweden and Belgium.

“We’ve got to keep our country safe,” exclaimed Trump. “You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this?…They’re having problems like they never thought possible.”

Political pundits, including former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, met Trump’s reference of terror attacks in Sweden with confusion, according to Newser.

A spokesperson for Sweden’s foreign minister was quoted as saying, “it’s hard to say what Trump is talking about.”

Trump later explained that he was referring to a FOX documentary that linked rising crime rates in Sweden to increased refugee immigration.

“They oftentimes try to cover up some of these crimes,” said filmmaker Ami Horowitz, concerning crimes perpetrated by foreign refugees.

“Sweden had its first terrorist Islamic attack not that long ago, so they’re now getting a taste of what we’ve been seeing across Europe already.”

Trump never explicitly stated that he thought there had been a terror attack on Sweden, though he did expressly describe Sweden as a cautionary tale of lax immigration policies.

“Sweden,” said Trump. “They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible.”

Despite Trump’s claims, crime rates in Sweden have been declining since 2005, even during periods in which the country permitted the entry of hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Middle East.

Sources: Newser (2), Reuters, The New York Times / Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr