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Säpo spent millions on ‘James Bond’ party

Swedish security service Säpo has come under fire after revelations that a James Bond themed party in 2011 cost 5.3 million kronor ($802,500), a contract that was never put out to tender.

Published: 27 August 2012 10:45 CEST

Säpo spent millions on 'James Bond' party

The party, which took place in June 2011, had a guest list of around 1,000 people and cost over 5 million kronor. The contract for the event was never put out to tender, revealed the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN) on Monday.

Furthermore, Säpo erroneously asked for almost one million kronor back in value added tax (moms), a claim that the Swedish National Audit Office (Riksrevisionen) noticed in February, demanding that the security service repaid 114,500 kronor in compensation.

The head of Säpo since July this year, Anders Thornberg, explained to the paper that the James Bond party was an exception – a relief for staff members after the pressure from 2011’s terror threats, suicide bombing and a company reorganization.

“This was a unique and extraordinary time and we’d been subjected to extreme pressure. We thought that we needed a special gathering for the whole security police team,” he told the paper.

The party was organized by former Säpo head Anders Danielsson, who is now the Director General of the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket).

“I take responsibility for everything, if it’s wrong then it is wrong, and it will be sorted out in due course,” he told DN.

Justice Minister Beatrice Ask has not yet commented on the revelations , but said that a spokesperson will make a statement later on Monday morning.

TT/The Local/og

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Centre Party leader meets Almedalen tragedy with call for unity

Lööf began her speech, which took place only five hours after Swedish psychiatrist Ing-Marie Wieselgren was stabbed to death, with a call for a minute’s silence.

“Let us be quiet for a moment and take in what has happened,” she said.

Then, the minute’s silence over, she began.

“This evening, Almedalen is not a place for political gimmicks, conflicts and harsh words,” she said. “Today it is a place for coming together and reflection.”

Politically, the speech was interesting in that it strongly emphasised her party’s support for issues such as refugees, foreign aid, climate change, LGBT rights, a support for Ukraine, but did not even mention the liberal economic reforms the party had managed to drive through with the January Agreement with the government, with tax cuts for the very richest, and liberalisation of Sweden’s first-in, last-out employment rules.

At the same time she placed her party firmly between the left-wing and right-wing bloc in Swedish politics, telling the leaders of both the Moderate Party and the Social Democrats that they could have her support.

“Ulf Kristersson,” she said. “If you want to have the Centre Party’s support to be prime minister, let go of the Sweden Democrats. Come back to the successful liberal politics which created the Alliance and meant that we were in power together for eight years.”

“Magdalena Andersson,” she continued. “If you want to have the Centre Party’s support as prime minister, let go of left-wing politics. Build the next mandate period on a new social liberal reform agenda on which we build on the best of the January Agreement.”

On Twitter, Jonas Hinnfors, a politics professor at Gothenburg University, pointed out that Lööf had not demanded that Andersson “drop the Left Party”, but only “Left-wing politics” (unlike what she said about the Sweden Democrats).

…AL ger rådet till S Andersson: ”vill du ha C stöd – släpp vänsterpolitiken”. Notera att AL kräver ”släpp SD” men inte ”släpp V” utan släpp vänsterpolitiken. #almedalsveckan2022

— Jonas Hinnfors (@jonas_hinnfors) July 6, 2022

And when she discussed the Sweden Democrats, Lööf’s rhetoric was tougher than that employed by any other party leader in their Almedalen speech.

“Sweden is not Hungary, Sweden is not Italy, Sweden is not Poland. There’s no reason for a Swedish government to make itself dependent on an authoritarian, xenophobic party,” she said. “If only the will can be found, it’s possible to win support for taking power in Sweden among responsible, sensible parties. It’s been done before.”

On energy, she rejected the attempt on Sweden’s right-wing to present nuclear power as the solution.

“Stop putting team wind and team nuclear against one another,” she said. “We need more of every time of emissions-free energy. Double Swedish electricity production, because that will make the difference, for people and companies, in the cities and in the countryside.”

She also called for a “new Marshall plan for Ukraine”. “Replace every demolished school, every playground, every bombed home. Build new roads and railways, hospitals and theatres. Build bridges, not just for cars and trains, but for a brighter future as part of the EU.”

She ended a her speech with a series of call outs to anti-racists, feminists, LGBT activists, and people worried about the environment.

“To all of us who are hankering after a greener, freer, and stronger Sweden ahead of us,” she said. “Our time is now.”

You can read Lööf’s full speech here in Sweden and in English (Google translate) here.

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