Bildt & SIDA

Johannes Wahlström and Lisa Röstlund uncover more dirt on Sweden's infamous 'submarine spy'.

Get It Try It

BILDTSTAN (Radsoft) — SIDA (Sweden's International Development Agency) has been dumping millions to strange beneficiaries. They're supposed to fight poverty in the world. But they're not fighting poverty at all. They've been buying radio shows and talk shows in Georgia and have been financing projects to benefit NATO and international oil.

SEK 95,000,000 of Swedish aid has been funneled into US organisations in Georgia. These are finances used to purchase radio and television talk shows about the EU and membership in NATO.

Carl Bildt denies any knowledge of the affairs.

Paying CEO Salaries

According to the new report, SIDA funds also paid the salaries of top US CEOs, their expenses, and trips to Washington.

The mission of SIDA is to reduce poverty in the world.



'We thought this support was very relevant', tried departmental chief Lena Ingelstam.

It was in 2007 that SIDA made joint agreements with the National Democratic Institute, the Eurasia Foundation, and the Eurasia Partnership Foundation.

[Carl Bildt was on the board of EF subsidiary New Eurasia Foundation for two years. Ed.]

The above organisations work for increased 'democracy' in various countries, including those of the former Soviet Union. The above organisations are otherwise funded by USAID and private interests such as Chevron.

'Not at all surprised'

Former Swedish ambassador to Georgia Hans Gunnar Adén says the organisations are financed by big names in the oil industry.

'I wasn't aware of the connections, but I'm not at all surprised.'

It's particularly the money sent to the NDI that's questionable. During the parliamentary elections in 2012 and the presidential election the year after, the NDI conducted political polls for SIDA.

Those polls showed support for Mikheil Saakashvili, a friend of Carl Bildt and a supporter of NATO and US interests. Yet after those elections, his support was shown to suddenly be only half of what the polls claimed.

A lot of the funds went to Georgian state radio and television companies, financing 49 television programmes about why Georgians should join the EU.

'You must have got that wrong!' said a representative of the Georgian government. 'Are you sure the money went to state television? That's against the law in this country! Our public service companies may not under any circumstances take money in that way!'

Sweden's aid to Georgia began in 1994 and today is SEK 100,000,000 per year.

The payments to Georgia seldom show up in public accounting. Instead they're shuffled through a maze of companies designed to obfuscate what's really going on.

Carl Bildt denies any knowledge of the affairs.

Postscript: He Didn't Try

He didn't try, Carl Bildt. And he didn't argue. He picked it straight out of the WikiLeaks cables. That's probably what's made you so paranoid all along.

http://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/1976STOCKH05429_b.html