Media Release
FA113 - 11 September 2003
Death of Swedish Foreign Minister
I was saddened to learn that my Swedish counterpart, Anna Lindh, has died as a result of her injuries following a knife attack yesterday. As I mentioned in Parliament today, I knew Anna personally and considered her to be a good friend of Australia.
Looking back to the UN office bombing in Baghdad on 19 August, and the death of Sergio de Mello, I now have lost two good friends in the world of diplomacy in less than a month. The world is poorer for the loss of these people.
She was a highly respected and admired politician in Sweden who, first as Environment Minister and then as Foreign Minister since 1998, had been a strong advocate for her country. I personally recall Anna's impressive work at the helm of Sweden's EU Presidency when I visited Stockholm in February 2001 for Australia-EU talks. Then, and during our regular meetings at the United Nations, Anna was a great advocate of the many issues on which Australia and Sweden closely cooperate, including disarmament and arms control, human rights and environment issues.
It speaks well for Anna that she was a well respected politician of the people and one of Sweden's most popular Ministers. It is noteworthy that she was attacked while unprotected and in a department store, freely mixing with Swedish citizens.
We wish the people of Sweden courage at this time.
Anna was 46 years old.
She is survived by her husband and two sons.
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