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THE AMBASSADORS

The Ambassadors: ‘The most impressive thing about Sweden is the social cohesion’

In the third of our interviews with ambassadors to Sweden, France's Etienne de Gonneville tells The Local about his admiration for Swedish social cohesion, growing France's market share, and why the posting is a return to his Viking roots.

Published: 19 December 2022 18:14 CET
The Ambassadors: 'The most impressive thing about Sweden is the social cohesion'
France's ambassador Etienne de Gonneville outside his official residence in Stockholm. Photo: France's Embassy to Stockholm

When The Local met France’s ambassador Etienne de Gonneville last week, he was preparing to host a viewing party for France’s nail-biting match against Morocco in the World Cup semi finals. 

He amused himself during the game by tweeting smiling or frowning portraits of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, the French Napoleonic Brigadier-General who ended up becoming King Karl XIV Johan of Sweden.

It was, he said, “definitely one of the main events in the calendar for French people in Sweden”. 

King Karl XIV Johan, the French founder of Sweden’s Bernadotte royal dynasty, is not the only Franco-Swedish link de Gonneville likes to draw attention to. 

“I was born in Paris, although my family has roots in Brittany, and originally, it’s a family from Normandy,” he says. “So there is a high probability that my ancestors actually came from Scandinavia. Or at least, that’s what we like to think in the family, so [I’m coming] back to my roots in a way.” 

Sweden is the 51-year-old’s first posting as ambassador following a 20-year diplomatic career that has taken him to Iran, Vietnam and the US. 

Representing the 10,000 or so French people living in Sweden, about two thirds of whom live in and around Stockholm, is a varied role.

“It’s a very dynamic and well-integrated community,” he says about French people working in Sweden. “We do not keep statistics on what French people do in Sweden, but from anecdotal evidence you can see that they are present in every part of Swedish society: from restaurants, of course, to the highest innovative sectors, like gaming in Malmö, or building batteries in Skellefteå, or studying in the various Swedish universities.”

Listen to the interview with the French ambassador on the Sweden in Focus podcast.

Listen & Follow: Apple | Spotify | Google

He describes the trade links between the two countries as “a growing and very dynamic relation… even though we are, for each other, a middle-sized partner.” 

The week before the interview, de Gonneville missed the World Cup quarter-final in order to attend the glitzy Nobel Banquet in Stockholm’s City Hall. But he had the satisfaction of sitting next to Judith Gough, the ambassador to the UK, at the awards ceremony, before Les Bleus vanquished the English team, which he joked about on Twitter. 

When it comes to trade and investment, de Gonneville sees plenty of room for growth. 

“France has a four percent market share, so it’s better than what France does globally, but of course, if you compare us to Germany, Germany is at 18 percent,” he says. “So it shows that there is a huge, huge potential in the relationship, and we are definitely working on it.” 

One of the ways that France is seeking to expand its market share is through the strategic partnership for innovation, digitalisation and green solutions signed by France’s President Emmanuel Macron on a visit to Sweden in 2017. 

“There is a lot of mutual attraction at the moment between France and Sweden and this is good for both our countries, and this is good for Europe as well,” de Gonneville says.

“We are developing our partnership at the moment on the assumption that there is a certain amount of mutual ignorance and that much more needs to be done to develop our relations. We are working on it and we are very encouraged by the enthusiasm on both sides to do more together.” 

Like his Irish and Pakistani counterparts Austin Gormley and Zahoor Ahmed, de Gonneville sees “proximity to nature” as one of the chief draws of living in Sweden. “For those who like that, it’s a huge attraction to the country,” he says. 

But in his two years here, he says that what he personally has been most impressed by is “the cohesion in society”.

“It’s a huge strength for Sweden, it has served the country well over time, and we can see in crisis after crisis, political event after political event, how important it is for the resilience of society,” he says. 

“There is a saying… attributed to Lenin, that if there was a coup in Sweden and a revolution, the first act of the revolutionary government would be to invite the former members of the bourgeois government to dinner, and I think there’s a lot of truth in that.” 

Interview by Paul O’Mahony, write-up by Richard Orange

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THE AMBASSADORS

US Ambassador: ‘I’m always impressed by just how engaged and candid Swedes are’

In the last of our current series, we sat down with United States Ambassador Erik Ramanathan to talk about everything from trade ties, military support and taxation to how much he has come to appreciate Swedes’ candour.

Published: 28 March 2023 06:33 CEST
US Ambassador: 'I'm always impressed by just how engaged and candid Swedes are'

When US President Joe Biden appointed a new ambassador to Sweden he chose a man who’d already been visiting the country on and off for more than three decades. As a young backpacker, Erik Ramanathan stayed at af Chapman, Stockholm’s floating hostel; now, he’s happily ensconced in Villa Åkerlund, the US Ambassador’s residence, with his husband of 32 years and their teenage daughter.

Unlike many of his counterparts in Stockholm’s diplomatic quarter, Erik Ramanathan is not a career diplomat. Before becoming ambassador in January 2022, he was chairman of the board of a national public health organisation, Heluna Health, while his other previous roles include board chair at Immigration Equality, a legal services group for LGBTQ and HIV positive immigrants.

‘A whirlwind year’

At the height of the Covid pandemic, the health organisation he chaired was busy on multiple fronts including running vaccine clinics, distributing protective equipment, and supporting clinical trial work. Given that he arrived in Stockholm after the worst days of the pandemic were over, the new ambassador might have been forgiven for expecting a quieter life. But then Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Sweden’s long-standing opposition to Nato membership evaporated almost overnight.

“It’s been quite a whirlwind year, but it’s really an exciting time to be here, and there’s really a lot of important work to be done,” Ramanathan tells The Local.

With a Nato application in the works and worried about how Russia might respond, Sweden required security guarantees, and countries including the UK, Germany and, crucially, the United States were quick to step up.

“All the time we’re doing military exercises together in the region. We have interoperable militaries. Sweden’s already an invitee to Nato. So we’re working together in many contexts already within the Nato framework,” says Ramanthan.

He adds that Sweden’s “moral authority” already sees the two countries working frequently together on multinational issues, and when it comes to trade too Sweden punches above its weight in the US.

“There’s over 1,200 American companies here in Sweden and there’s over 1,100 Swedish companies in the US. So there’s a lot of people with different business connections and business interests trying to figure out how to take our relationship to the next level,” says Ramanthan.

“Altogether, the foreign direct investment between Sweden and the US is higher than it’s ever been, over $30 billion, and Sweden is the 13th largest foreign direct investor in the US.”

Listen to more from US ambassador Erik Ramanathan in the Sweden in Focus podcast

The depth of the countries’ relationship is rooted in nearly 400 years of friendship, says Ramanathan, also pointing out that almost four million Americans trace their lineage to Sweden.

‘I have heard concerns expressed about taxation’

As for Americans in Sweden, nearly 25,000 people born in the US called Sweden home in 2022, according to official statistics. And when US citizens get in touch with the embassy it’s generally for things like renewing a passport or registering a childbirth. But when asked about FATCA (​​Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), Ramanathan says that the embassy does also get asked about these kinds of taxation issues too.

FATCA is a law that was intended to target tax evaders, but many Americans see it as an unnecessarily high burden.

“This is not really something that I was familiar with before I took up my post, but I have heard concerns expressed about taxation, generally, and on FATCA in particular,” says Ramanathan, noting that embassies around the world report back these concerns.

But, he adds: “Tax policy ultimately comes from Congress. So our recommendation to folks who are experiencing challenges in this area is to engage with their senators and representatives in Congress to seek changes that would make that an easier system to navigate.”

‘It’s really nice to be able to have honest discussions’

Now well into his second year in Sweden, Erik Ramanathan says he is “enjoying every second of it” and is finding his hosts refreshingly well-informed and straightforward.

“I’m always impressed by just how engaged and candid people are. That’s from the woman on the street to ministers and parliamentarians and others. People are very, very engaged,” he says.

“It’s really nice to be able to have these honest discussions and talk about what people are hearing. I learn so much by doing that, and can really, of course, share about US policy as well.”

As for what the future holds, Sweden might well remain home for many years to come. 

“I serve at the pleasure of the President. So I expect I’ll almost certainly be here as long as his first term in office and there’s a very decent chance I’ll be here beyond that.”

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