Switzerland or Sweden? Now America has also entered the field

The eternal story of confusion between Switzerland and Sweden has a new chapter. Shortly before his trip to Europe, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken released a map that put Sweden in Switzerland's place.

Remo Hess, Brussels / ch media

Americans and their geographical knowledge… After US President Joe Biden congratulated Switzerland on its NATO accession in front of the assembled world press last year, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has now also made a bold move: just before his trip to Europe, his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, his The ministry released a PR clip. Most notably: the map of Europe, which replaced Sweden with Switzerland and moved the Scandinavian country to the center of Europe.

How embarrassing. The error was quickly noticed and the post on the texting service “X” was deleted without comment. But the damage was done. “I didn't know you could get to Sweden via Italy,” or “Switzerland would have been the word you were looking for,” amused X users.

Sweden has had enough and starts the campaign – a blink of an eye

It is unprofessional that even the US State Department makes such a mistake. But unfortunately by no means unusual. Last year, the Swedish tourism organization launched a humorous educational campaign due to the risk of confusion.

With affected intensity, a Swedish speaker addresses the “politicians and citizens of Switzerland” in German and suggests that they must finally decide who rightfully belongs: Switzerland has the yodel, Sweden has the peace of nature. Actress Emma Peters winks as Switzerland pays attention to Sweden's lederhosen in popular fashion trends. Apparently, no one in the US State Department noticed this propaganda.

But outside the official politics and between the two countries there are always confusions. A few examples: When Swedish online streaming service Spotify went public in 2018, Wall Street raised the Swiss flag. Liverpool FC also gave Rivers a faux pas when Xherdan Shaqiri moved to England in 2018.

In Pakistan, after the Koran was burned in Sweden, enraged Muslims burned the Swiss flag in retaliation. But mistakes also happen where we should really know better: In the “Hockey Champions League” game between SC Bern and Grenoble, the French played the Swedish national anthem. Unforgivable.