Ylva Anna Maria Lindh (19 June 1957 – 11 September 2003) was a Swedish Social Democratic politician and lawyer who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1998 until her death. She was also a Member of the Riksdag (member of parliament) for Södermanland County until her assassination. On 10 September 2003, four days before a referendum on replacing the Swedish krona with the euro as currency, Lindh was stabbed by Mijailo Mijailović at the NK department store in central Stockholm; she died the next morning at Karolinska University Hospital. Anna Lindh had been seen as a likely candidate to succeed Göran Persson as Social Democratic party leader. Her greatest commitment was to international cooperation and solidarity, as well as to environmental issues. She worked on these issues throughout her career, serving as Environment Minister from 1994 to 1998, and then as Foreign Minister for the last five years of her life.
Early life and education
Lindh was born to Staffan (1931–2017) and Nancy Lindh (1932–2005) in Enskede-Årsta, a suburb southeast of Stockholm, but grew up in Enköping. At age 12, she became involved in politics after joining a local branch of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League. Upon joining the party, one of her priorities was to protest against the Vietnam War.
Lindh studied at Uppsala University, graduating in 1982 as a Candidate of Law (jur. kand.). The same year, she won election as a Member of the Riksdag (MP) for Södermanland County. In 1984, she became the first woman chairperson of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League. Her six years as president were marked by a commitment to international affairs (including Nicaragua, Vietnam, South Africa and Palestine) and against the arms race which characterized the Cold War.
Political career
Lindh served in the Riksdag from 1982 until 1985, and again from 1998 until her death in 2003. From 1991 to 1994, she was Commissioner of Culture and Environment and the Deputy Mayor of Stockholm. In 1994, after a Social Democratic victory in the election of that year, Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson appointed her to his cabinet as Minister for the Environment. One of Lindh's legacies was her pioneering work towards European Union legislation on hazardous chemical substances. She also called for the establishment of a common EU strategy against acid rain.
After the 1998 election, Prime Minister Göran Persson appointed Lindh to succeed Lena Hjelm-Wallén as Minister for Foreign Affairs in the new government. Having made influential friends around the world as president of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League, Lindh ardently supported international cooperation through the United Nations and in the European Union.
A high point in her career occurred during the Swedish presidency of the European Union in early 2001. Lindh served as chairman of the Council of the European Union, responsible for representing the official foreign policy position of the European Union. Travelling with European Union Foreign and Security Policy Spokesman Javier Solana in North Macedonia, during the Kosovo-Macedonian crisis, she negotiated an agreement which averted a civil war in the country.
Another talking point in her career was the violent repatriation of Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery from Sweden to Egypt, an operation carried out by the US military. According to a 2009 book published by journalist and friend of Lindh Eva Franchell, Göran Persson claimed the US administration would place a trade embargo on the European Union if Sweden did not let the Americans pick up Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery on Swedish soil. Persson publicly denied this claim following the books publication. Lindh had to choose between standing up for human rights and supporting trade relations with the US. She chose the latter, and was later extensively criticised for her actions. On 24 May 2004, when the committee against torture at the United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found that the Government of Sweden had violated its obligations under the Convention against Torture in the forced repatriation of Agiza, Lindh had already been murdered.
Lindh criticised the 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying that:
However, Lindh praised the fall of Saddam Hussein. She advocated greater respect for international law and human rights in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, criticising Ariel Sharon's Israeli government, but also condemning Palestinian suicide bombings as "atrocities". She argued strongly for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories; in an interview shortly before her death she said: