MAN DROVE A TRUCK INTO A BUSY SHOPPING DISTRICT IN SWEDEN'S
CAPITAL OF STOCKHOLM ON FRIDAY. SWEDISH AUTHORITIES SAY THE
SUSPECT BEHIND FRIDAY'S ATTACK WAS SUPPOSED TO LEAVE THE
COUNTRY IN JANUARY AFTER BEING DENIED A REQUEST FOR PERMANENT
RESIDENCY. THE PRIME MINISTER IS ALSO
LOOKING HARD AT THE FUTURE OF THEIR IMMIGRATION POLICY
REPORTEDLY SAYING HIS COUNTRY WILL NEVER ALLOW THE SAME
SITUATION THEY HAD DURING THE REFUGEE CRISIS.
AUTHORITIES ALSO SAY THE SUSPECTED DRIVER, UNIDENTIFIED
39-YEAR-OLD UBEKISTAN NATIONAL, WHO ALSO HAD BEEN ARRESTED,
EXPRESSED SYMPATHY FOR EXTREMIST GROUPS.
A SECOND SUSPECT HAS BEEN ARRESTED.
FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SWEDEN, MY BROTHER, MARK
BRZEZINSKI, WHO SERVED IN THAT ROLE AND THE FASHL SECURITY
STAFF UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON. >> MARK, SO GOOD TO HAVE YOU
WITH US. >> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
>> LEGENDARY MIKE BARNICLE IS WITH US.
>> TELL ME ABOUT THE VETTING PROCESS IN SWEDEN.
>> IT'S CHANGED BEFORE VIRTUALLY ANYONE WHO WOULD ARRIVE IN
SWEDEN, IF THEY WERE DECLARING THEMSELVES POLITICAL ASYLEE,
THEY WOULD BE ADMITTED. NEW REGIMES HAVE BEEN PUT IN
PLACE IN THE LAST YEAR TO VET PEOPLE MORE INTENSELY, TO LOOK
INTO THEIR BACKGROUNDS AND I SUSPECT WHAT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY
WILL TRIGGER MORE REVIEW TO SEE IF MORE IS NEEDED.
I WILL ALSO SAY THE ATTACK IN SWEDEN WAS VERY PERSONAL FOR ME
AND MY FAMILY. WE LIVED JUST A FEW BLOCKS FROM
THE PLACE WHERE THIS OCCURRED. MY WIFE WORKS WITH SPOTIFY, THE
COMPANY WITH WHICH ONE OF THE VICTIMS WORKED, A BRITISH
NATIONAL. SO OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO SWEDEN.
>> GIVEN THE STATE OF THE WORLD, AS IT HAS BEEN FOR SEVERAL
YEARS, MARK, WHAT WAS THE THOUGHT PROCESS IN SWEDEN, WITH
NO VETTING FOR ANYONE WHO WOULD WANT TO COME INTO THAT COUNTRY
FROM WHEREVER THEY WERE COMING FROM?
>> THE THOUGHT PROCESS WAS REFLECTED ON WHAT YOU SAW, MIKE,
ON SUNDAY, WHERE THERE WAS A HUGE NATIONAL LOVE AND OPENNESS
DEMONSTRATION TWO DAYS AFTER ONE OF THE WORST TERRORIST ATTACKS
THAT ANYONE CAN REMEMBER IN STOCKHOLM.
THE COUNTRY SEES ITSELF AS A HUMANITARIAN SUPERPOWER AND
CELEBRATES ITS OPENNESS AND ITS GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY.
AND SO THAT'S THE ETHOS THAT UNDERPINS THIS PRACTICE OF
OPENNESS THAT THE SWEDES HAVE. AND I THINK THAT THEY ARE
HEARTBROKEN THAT THIS HAS OCCURRED.
BUT I ALSO THINK THAT THEY ARE DEFIANT IN THE FACE OF THIS AND
WANT TO MAINTAIN THIS OPENNESS. >> THAT'S TOUGH.
>> IT IS. >> BUT THERE IS, OBVIOUSLY,
MARK, A BALANCE THERE. AND ISN'T THERE AN UNDERSTANDING
THAT PERHAPS THAT OPENNESS ACTUALLY LED -- EITHER LED TO A
TRAGEDY OR COULD LEAD TO A TRAGEDY.
AS YOU SAID WHEN THIS PROCESS BEGAN
>> YOU KNOW, JOE, THE MOST FAVORITE WORD EMBRACE IS THE
WORD THAT MEANS BALANCE. AND BALANCE IN THE FACE OF
COMPETING OPPORTUNITIES AND COMPETING TENSIONS.
THIS ISSUE OF IMMIGRATION AND INTEGRATION IS ONE THAT IS GOING
TO, I THINK, BE FACING A NEW DEFINITION OF BALANCE.
I THINK THE SWEDES WILL FOCUS INCREASINGLY ON HOW TO
EFFECTIVELY INTEGRATE THOSE WHO ARRIVE ON THEIR SHORES.
IN 2015, THE SWEDES TOOK IN PEO SWEDEN IN IS SIZE OF THE STATE
OF JOSE ALTUVE. POPULATION OF HALF A MILLION
PEOPLE. 150,000 PEOPLE ARRIVING FROM
SYRIA YEMEN, SOMALIA, IS A HARD THING TO ABSORB.
AND THE INTEGRATION OF THOSE IMMIGRANTS IS NOT MONOLIVIC.
FOR EXAMPLE, IRANIANS ARRIVING IN SWEDEN GENERALLY SPEAKING
HAVE ASSIMILATED MUCH MORE ESPECTIVELY INTO PROFESSIONAL
CLASSES THAN SAY FOLKS FROM SOMALIA WHO HAVE HAD A MUCH MORE
DIFFICULT TIME ASSIMILATING INTO SWEDEN.
SO THAT HAS TO WITH DEALT WITH ON A KIND OF CASE-BY-CASE BASIS
AS WELL. >> RIGHT.
DOES SWEDEN DO ANYTHING WELL IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC INTEGRATION.
>>> WELL, THERE IS A LOT OF RESOURCES AND ENERGY PUT TOWARDS
LANGUAGE EDUCATION GETTING PEOPLE INTO HOUSES AND
ACCOMMODATION AROUND THE COUNTRY.
ONLY SO MANY LOW SKILLED JOBS. THAT'S THE THING.
SWEDEN IS A PROFESSIONALLY VERY ADVANCED COUNTRY.
LOOK WHERE THE EVENTS THIS PAST FRIDAY OCCURRED.
RIGHT NEXT TO AMAZON AND RIGHT OUTSIDE OF H AND MIRANDA
WARNINGS OFFICERS. THOSE ARE GLOBAL COMPANIES.
THIS WILL IS A HIGH-TECH SOCIETY.
IF YOU ARRIVE IN SWEDEN WITH NO TECH BACKGROUND, WITH NO LONG
ABILITY. YOUR ABILITY TO ASSIMILATE IS
NOT THAT EASY. IT TAKES TIME AND FOR THE
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN SWEDEN. GENERALLY SPEAKING IS 7%.
FOR IMMIGRANT YOUNG MEN, IT'S OVER 40% IN SOME AREAS.
WAS THERE A ROBUST MOVEMENT. WAS THERE BACKLASH TO
IMMIGRATION POLICY AND LACK OF VETTING OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF
YEARS. ARE THEY -- IS THIS AN MOVEMENT
OR HOW DO YOU SEE THE POLITICS ON THE GROUND PROCEEDING?
>>> WELL, THE RIGHT -- THE FAR RIGHT PARTY IN SWEDEN CALLED THE
SWEDEN DEMOCRATS, QUITE FRANKLY, USED TO BE A MARGINAL POLITICAL
PARTY. NOW IT'S ONE OF THE LARGEST
POLITICAL PARTIES IN SWEDEN. WITH ELECTIONS FORTHCOMING IN
THE NEXT YEAR OR SO, I THINK THAT YOU'LL SEE THEM DO EVEN
BETTER. I THINK THAT IS PART OF THE
DEBATE THAT THE COUNTRY IS GOING TO HAVE.
THAT IS HOW DO YOU MAINTAIN THIS OPENNESS AND GLOBAL EMBRACE,
WHICH IS PART OF THE SWEDISH DNA, WITH A MORE RIGOROUS
VETTING AND IMMIGRATION CONTROL POLICY SO THAT FOLKS LIKE THIS
ARE CAUGHT EARLIER. AT THE SAME TIME, I THOUGHT IT
WAS VERY POIGNANT THAT THE SWEDISH CROWN PRINCESS WHEN
ASKED HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS, SHE LOOKED AT THE
CAMERA AND SAID TOGETHER. WHEN THE SWEEDS SAY TOGETHER,
THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT A GLOBAL APPROACH.
>> AMBASSADOR, THANK YOU