Sweden’s Spy Agency Throws James Bond-Themed Party

Sweden’s spy agency is wrapped up in a scandal that might make even James Bond blush.

News emerged this week that the agency called SAPO spent $800,000 on a Bond-themed party last year.

It was complete with casino tables, a big band and a gala dinner.

Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Oliver Gee, a reporter with Sweden’s English language website The Local, about the event.

Read the Transcript
The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

Marco Werman: Sweden’s spy agency (yes, they do have one) has gotten itself wrapped up in a scandal that might make even James Bond blush. News emerged this week that the agency called SAPO spent $800,000 on a Bond-themed party last year. It was complete with casino tables, a big band and a gala dinner. That’s been enough to raise a few eyebrows – Roger Moore style, of course. Oliver Gee is a reporter with Sweden’s English language website thelocal.se. Oliver, just how extravagant was this party?

Oliver Gee: For a security service party, I think it was pretty extravagant. As you said, there were the blackjack tables and the dancing. In fact, there was also silhouette dancing to the tune of James Bond music, so it sounded like it was a pretty big affair indeed.

Werman: Now, this is a spy agency; they’re supposed to be discreet. Why would they hold such a large and lavish party?

Gee: The current head of SAPO has said that it was an extraordinary year for the organization. We know there were budget cuts and there was also a suicide bombing in Stockholm which put some increased pressure on the organization and they’ve claimed that they needed to get rid of some of the stress and that’s why they needed the big event, apparently.

Werman: Right. Well, Swedes have the reputation of being a pretty modest bunch of people. How has the public reacted to the revelations of this crazy party?

Gee: Well, I think people were pretty amazed by the kind of figures involved. Considering there were a thousand people invited to the event and it cost US$800,000 of taxpayers’ money, people seemed pretty riled up about it and the whole James Bond theme is kind of excruciating as well for them if you consider they’re a secret service. So, unsurprisingly, it opens them up to ridicule.

Werman: Now, as I understand, the one thing that really rankled the Swedish government about the party is that it was not put out to tender. In other words, no one was allowed to bid to be the party organizers. Is that right?

Gee: Yes, that’s right. Furthermore, what riled up people was when the news came out that they’d made a claim for too much of the added tax back. So, they made a claim that was almost 1 million Swedish kronor and they had to pay a large percentage of that back in compensation which is something that really struck a chord with the Swedish public – that they would make such a claim.

Werman: Now, we here in the United States got our first taste of the Swedish spy service (SAPO) in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” novels. In those works of fiction, as you may recall, SAPO was covering up the presence of a dangerous Eastern European killer and gangster in their midst. This is a big party. What is SAPO’s reputation among Swedes? Is it somewhere between the spies and the party throwers?

Gee: In fact, SAPO has got a pretty good reputation among Swedes. They’re a fairly open organization and in recent years they’ve even been making efforts to be more open, so they have got a pretty good reputation, to be honest.

Werman: Oliver Gee, a reporter with Sweden’s English language website thelocal.se, thanks for speaking with us.

Gee: Thank you.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.