Carl Bildt
Encyclopedia
, Honorary KCMG
(born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish
politician
, diplomat
and nobleman. Formerly Prime Minister of Sweden
from 1991 to 1994 and leader of the liberal conservative
Moderate Party
from 1986 to 1999, Bildt has served as Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs
since 6 October 2006. He has also been noted internationally as a mediator in the Balkan conflict
, serving as the European Union
's Special Envoy to the Former Yugoslavia
from June 1995, co-chairman of the Dayton Peace Conference
in November 1995 and as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
from December 1995 to June 1997 immediately after the Bosnian War
. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the United Nations Secretary-General
's Special Envoy for the Balkans
.
, Halland
, and belongs to an old Norwegian-Danish-Swedish noble family traditionally domiciled in Bohus county
. Bildt attended Stockholm University
but never graduated. His great-great-grandfather, Baron
Gillis Bildt
, served as Prime Minister
a century earlier and as a diplomat as well as Marshal of the Realm of Sweden (riksmarskalk). His great-grandfather General
Knut Bildt was chief of the general staff. His great-grandfather's brother Carl Bildt served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Cabinet - Secretary (Under secretary of state of foreign affairs, in Swedish kabinettssekreterare) and was a renowned diplomat and member of the Swedish Academy
. Bildt's grandfather Nils Bildt was a Colonel
and chief of the Halland Regiment. It is interesting to note that Colonel Bildt and his family were neighbours to the Palme
family. Bildt's father Daniel Bildt (1920–2010) was a former major
in the reserves of the now defunct Halland Regiment
(Hallands regemente) and a former bureau director in the now defunct Civil Defense Board's Education Bureau. He married Kerstin Andersson - Alwå in 1947 . Bildt has a brother - Nils, who was born in 1952. Bildt himself was married to Kerstin Zetterberg 1974 - 1975, Mia Bohman (daughter of former Moderate party leader and Minister of Economy, Gösta Bohman
) 1984 - 1997 and is currently married to Anna Maria Corazza
since 1998. From his second marriage he has the children Gunnel (born 1989) and Nils (born 1991). From his third marriage he has the son Gustaf (born 2004). The family's perhaps most prominent lineage comes from Norway, where at least three of his ancestors have been that country's leaders in a position comparable with a modern PM: in 16th century, his ancestor Nils Henriksson av Østråt (Gyldenløve
) served as Lord High Steward of Norway and another ancestor, Vincents Vincentson Lunge, as Viceroy
of the kingdom of Norway; and then in 17th century, yet one ancestor, Jens Ovesonn Bjelke served as Lord High Chancellor of Norway, and was himself descended from king Haakon V of Norway
(the king and his forefathers thus also being Bildt's ancestors) through his daughter Agnes Hakonardottir, Dame of Borgarsyssel.
in 1968 and was one of the co-founders of Borgerliga Studenter – Opposition '68
later the same year, and served as chairman of the FMSF Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students, a centre-right
student organisation, in the early 1970s. When the non-socialist formed government in 1976, Bildt came to serve as the Moderate party coordinator in his capacity as close collaborator of the then party leader and Minister of Economy Gösta Bohman. Bildt became a Member of Parliament
in 1979, although he instead served as State Secretary for Policy Coordination in the non-socialist government reformed after that election. As an MP in the early eighties, he became noted as an incisive and combative debater on foreign affairs, and found himself pitted against Prime Minister Olof Palme
. Bildt was elected leader of the Moderate Party in 1986, succeeding Ulf Adelsohn
. In 1991 the Social Democrats were defeated by a four-party coalition led by Bildt's Moderates.
government. The Social Democrats' volte face on possible accession to the EEC was most likely a prerequisite for the positive referendum result) and Bildt signed the accession treaty at the European Union summit of Corfu
, Greece
, on 23 June 1994.
Economic reforms were enacted, including voucher schools, liberalized markets for telecommunications and energy as well as the privatization of publicly owned companies, privatization of health care, contributing to liberalizing the Swedish economy. Arguably, the subsequent budget cut-backs with the Social Democrates, and after 1994, continued spending cuts by the Social Democratic government, did more to reform the Swedish economy and the Swedish model, than Bildt's governments programme as such. The government's effectiveness was furthermore hampered as it was plagued by in-fighting, most memorably over the construction of the Oresund Bridge
.
The period was also marked by a severe economic crisis. In November 1992, the crisis reached its climax as Sweden left the European Exchange Rate Mechanism
(the ERM
) and let the Krona float, after having defended the fixed exchange rate at tremendous cost. In some people's opinion, single-minded defense of the Krona led to and continues to draw heavy criticism. At the peak of the crisis and amid run-away budget deficits, a number of emergency cut-backs were negotiated with the Social Democrats. The different measures did contribute to a reduction in the public deficit in 1994 and 1995, and allegedly to revived growth in subsequent years. There is still some debate on whether the current (2006) growth levels are in part due to the devaluation of the Krona. Some see the increased importance of the export industry as testament to this.
The Social Democrats returned to power in September 1994, although Bildt's Moderate Party scored a slight gain.
In 1999 he was succeeded as party leader by Bo Lundgren
.
conflict, serving as the European Union
Special Envoy to Former Yugoslavia from June 1995, Co-Chairman of the Dayton Peace Conference in November 1995, and High Representative
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
from December 1995 to June 1997 immediately after the Bosnian War
. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the United Nations
Secretary General's Special Envoy for the Balkans.
In 1995, Croatia
declared Carl Bildt a persona non grata
announcing that he had "lost the credibility necessary for the role of a peace mediator". Bildt had suggested that the President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, was as guilty of war crimes as the Krajina
Serb leader, Milan Martić
.
During Operation Flash
and Operation Storm
in Croatia he demanded military operations by OUN and/or NATO against Croatian army.
On 6 October 2006, Bildt was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the newly formed government
led by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt
. This was seen by many as a somewhat surprising move, because Bildt had already served both as Prime Minister and as leader of the Moderate Party and the previous conflict between Bildt and Reinfeldt.
n gas giant Gazprom
, and Lundin Petroleum
, an oil company with activities in war-torn Sudan
.
In the later category, he served as the first non-US member ever of the Board of Trustees of the RAND Corporation (Santa Monica
) and on the Advisory Board of the Centre for European Reform
(London
). He was also a member of the board of the European Policy Center (Brussels
) as well as the International Institute for Strategic Studies
(London) and the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Affairs (New York).
In the corporate sector in the US, he served as non-executive director of the Baltimore-based US assets management company Legg Mason, Inc.
Among Swedish-dominated companies, he served as Chairman of the Board of Teleopti
as well as of the public affairs consultancy Kreab
AB, and Board member of the IT consultancy HiQ AB. He was also Chairman of Nordic Venture Network, bringing Nordic high-tech VC firms together in an informal network.
In 2002 Bildt joined the board of directors of Vostok Nafta, a financial company primarily with holdings in Gazprom
. Bildt was also a member of the board of independent oil company Lundin Petroleum
.
He left the board of directors of all these functions upon becoming Foreign Minister in October 2006.
Bildt has been criticized due to the potential conflict of interest due to his previous position in Vostok Nafta, although Bildt could not divest the stock options he has until the first two weeks of December 2006. Among other things the Swedish government has to decide whether or not to lend its support to the construction of a Russian gas pipeline in the Baltic sea
near the Swedish island of Gotland
. This conflict of interest might also affect relations between Sweden, other European Union
countries and Russia, since many EU countries are dependent on Russian oil and gas for their energy needs. On 20 October 2006, Ulf Holm
, a Member of Parliament for the Green Party, reported the Foreign Minister to the Riksdag Constitutional Committee in order to determine whether Bildt's private economic affairs might represent a conflict of interest. Carl Söderbergh, Secretary General for the Swedish section of Amnesty International
, has also criticized Bildt since Human Rights issues are within the portfolio of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. However, the criticism against Bildt for his interests subsided after he announced his intentions of divesting himself of all financial ties with the company as soon as is possible. The work by the Constitutional Committee of the Parliament could not find any grounds for questioning the activities of Bildt in these regards. It also came to light that the Swedish state pension funds together had invested more than a billion Swedish krona
(140 million USD
or 75 million GBP
) in Vostok Nafta.
. Among other he was as prime minister
accused of indifference to the ethnic cleansing
and genocide
committed by the Bosnian Serb forces against Muslim and Croat civilians. Bildt opposed any military intervention and criticized the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
in 1993 for calling NATO to intervene against the Bosnian Serb forces, which led to the Sunday Times calling Bildt and other EU leaders "robotic political pygmies" and their acceptance of the ongoing genocide "shameful".
Following Bildt's appointment as EU
's special envoy to Yugoslavia, Tom Warrick from the Coalition for International Justice
described Bildt as "dangerously misinformed about his own job description" and largely ignorant about the region. The New York Times
criticized Bildt for a nonchalant attitude towards the Srebrenica massacre
where over 8,000 Bosniaks were killed, and described him as being burdened with a reputation for accepting Bosnian Serb claims of good behavior at face value and overlooking evidence of atrocities against civilians. Several international governments criticized Bildt for having been ineffective and too closely affiliated with the Serbs
in Bosnia and Serbia
. British
historian Marko Attila Hoare
accused Bildt of downplaying the number of victims killed in the Srebrenica massacre and ignoring Serbian war crimes. Bildt was also criticized for not mentioning the Srebrenica massacre during a lunch meeting on 15 July 1995 in Belgrade
with the Serbian President
, Slobodan Milošević
and the commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Ratko Mladić
, even though he had received reports about the ongoing massacre.
Following the early release of convicted war criminal Biljana Plavšić
from Swedish prison in 2009, Bildt was reported to Swedens Committee on the Constitution for being disqualified to take part in such a decision. Bildt was accused of being personally involved in the case and being personally close to Plavšić. Bildt testified at Plavšićs trial in 2002 at the Hague
praising her, calling her post-war actions "brave" and "courageous".
, a group with ties to the Bush administration
pushing for an invasion of Iraq in 2003.
On 8 April 2008, during his visit in Israel
and Palestinian Authority, Bildt gave an interview to Swedish state radio, where he responded to a question on whether it was really possible to strike a peace deal without the involvement of the Palestinian group Hamas
, which remained under international boycott. He responded that the Palestinian Fatah
-backed government could deal with Israel, in the same way that it was possible for the Israeli government to make peace with Fatah over the objections of the former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
, who, similarly to Hamas opposed a two-state deal. Israeli officials issued very strongly worded condemnations of this (calling it "horrible and stupid", saying it was an example of "chutzpah" and "complete ignorance of the Middle East"), on the grounds that they saw it as a way of comparing Hamas and Netanyahu as equals.
After the South Ossetian War, Bildt on his blog
wrote that the Russian rationale for its intervention, i.e. concern for the welfare of its expatriates in the Near Abroad
, had certain similarities with the rationale for the annexation of Sudetenland
. The Russian reaction was strong, and the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Bildt is no longer considered welcome in Moscow. Bildt also called South Ossetia
n independence "a joke", and said it would be supported only by a "miserable" lot of countries.
It was revealed following the organization WikiLeaks
release of classified diplomatic documents
that US diplomats considered Bildt an "stubborn, arrogant nobleman" and to have "limited political abilities". Bildt was also described as someone who thinks he has more power and influence than he really has and called him a "medium size dog with big dog attitude". The then US president George W. Bush
was advised before a meeting to "play on Bildt's desire to operate at a high level" and to pretend to be impressed by his previous international assignments. Other US diplomats and politicians were also advised and to play on Bildt's self image to "keep him on a good mood".
for communicating. On 4 February 1994, he sent an e-mail
to U.S. president
Bill Clinton
, which was the first (as what is publicly known) ever electronic mail sent between two heads of government
. In the e-mail he praised Clinton's decision to end the trade embargo on Vietnam
.
In the same year he also started a weekly electronic newsletter
, which was active until 2005. He is also active as a blog
ger, starting his first blog in February 2005. His current blog, started in January 2007, is one of the most widely read political blogs in Sweden.
On 30 May 2007 he officially opened a "Swedish embassy" in the virtual world
Second Life
. The embassy, called "Second House of Sweden", is a virtual replica of House of Sweden
, the Swedish embassy building in Washington, D.C.
.
During Bildt's time as Foreign Minister the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened up a channel on YouTube which has been active since early 2008.
Bildt also maintains a personal Twitter feed in English with approximately 65,000 subscribed followers.
, of which he is an honorary member and contributor to its publications.
of the 12th size in 2003. He is a Commander of the Légion d'honneur
, and has an honorary doctorate from the University of St Andrews
.
Bildt is also a member of the Club of Madrid
, an independent non-profit organization composed of 81 democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries.
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Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and nobleman. Formerly Prime Minister of Sweden
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
from 1991 to 1994 and leader of the liberal conservative
Liberal conservatism
Liberal conservatism also known as progressive conservatism is a variant of political conservatism which incorporates liberal elements. As "conservatism" and "liberalism" have had different meanings over time and across countries, the term "liberal conservatism" has been used in quite different...
Moderate Party
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party is a centre-right, liberal conservative political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1904 as the General Electoral League by a group of conservatives in the Swedish parliament...
from 1986 to 1999, Bildt has served as Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)
The Minister for Foreign Affairs is the foreign minister of Sweden and the head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.The office was instituted in 1809 as a result of the constitutional Instrument of Government promulgated in the same year. Until 1876 the office was called Prime Minister for Foreign...
since 6 October 2006. He has also been noted internationally as a mediator in the Balkan conflict
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
, serving as the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's Special Envoy to the Former Yugoslavia
Former Yugoslavia
The former Yugoslavia is a term used to describe the present day states which succeeded the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
from June 1995, co-chairman of the Dayton Peace Conference
Dayton Agreement
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, Dayton Accords, Paris Protocol or Dayton-Paris Agreement, is the peace agreement reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in November 1995, and formally signed in Paris on...
in November 1995 and as High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was created in 1995 immediately after the Dayton Peace Agreement to oversee the civilian implementation of this agreement. The High Representative and the OHR represent the...
from December 1995 to June 1997 immediately after the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
's Special Envoy for the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
.
Background
Bildt was born in HalmstadHalmstad
Halmstad is a port, university, industrial and recreational city at the mouth of Nissan in the province of Halland on the Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat of Halmstad Municipality and the capital of Halland County...
, Halland
Halland
' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...
, and belongs to an old Norwegian-Danish-Swedish noble family traditionally domiciled in Bohus county
Bohuslän
' is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Götaland on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the west, and the county of Østfold in Norway to the north...
. Bildt attended Stockholm University
Stockholm University
Stockholm University is a state university in Stockholm, Sweden. It has over 28,000 students at four faculties, making it one of the largest universities in Scandinavia. The institution is also frequently regarded as one of the top 100 universities in the world...
but never graduated. His great-great-grandfather, Baron
Baron
Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
Gillis Bildt
Gillis Bildt
Didrik Anders Gillis Bildt was a Swedish parliamentarian, military officer, baron and prime minister 1888–1889.-Family:...
, served as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
a century earlier and as a diplomat as well as Marshal of the Realm of Sweden (riksmarskalk). His great-grandfather General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Knut Bildt was chief of the general staff. His great-grandfather's brother Carl Bildt served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Cabinet - Secretary (Under secretary of state of foreign affairs, in Swedish kabinettssekreterare) and was a renowned diplomat and member of the Swedish Academy
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
. Bildt's grandfather Nils Bildt was a Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and chief of the Halland Regiment. It is interesting to note that Colonel Bildt and his family were neighbours to the Palme
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
family. Bildt's father Daniel Bildt (1920–2010) was a former major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the reserves of the now defunct Halland Regiment
Hallands regemente
Hallands regemente , designations I 16 and I 16/Fo 31, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was disbanded in 2000...
(Hallands regemente) and a former bureau director in the now defunct Civil Defense Board's Education Bureau. He married Kerstin Andersson - Alwå in 1947 . Bildt has a brother - Nils, who was born in 1952. Bildt himself was married to Kerstin Zetterberg 1974 - 1975, Mia Bohman (daughter of former Moderate party leader and Minister of Economy, Gösta Bohman
Gösta Bohman
Bo Gösta Bohman was a Swedish politician and the leader of the Swedish liberal conservative Moderate Party from 1970 to 1981, during a period in which the party strengthened its position in Swedish politics. He served as Minister for the Economy during the three-party centre-right Swedish...
) 1984 - 1997 and is currently married to Anna Maria Corazza
Anna Maria Corazza Bildt
Anna Maria Corazza Bildt is an Italian-Swedish politician of the Moderate Party.In 1998, she married Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Sweden, former leader of the Swedish Moderate Party and present Foreign Minister...
since 1998. From his second marriage he has the children Gunnel (born 1989) and Nils (born 1991). From his third marriage he has the son Gustaf (born 2004). The family's perhaps most prominent lineage comes from Norway, where at least three of his ancestors have been that country's leaders in a position comparable with a modern PM: in 16th century, his ancestor Nils Henriksson av Østråt (Gyldenløve
Gyldenløve
Gyldenløve is the name of two important noble families in Danish and Norwegian history. The first Gyldenløve family belonged to the Norwegian high nobility...
) served as Lord High Steward of Norway and another ancestor, Vincents Vincentson Lunge, as Viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
of the kingdom of Norway; and then in 17th century, yet one ancestor, Jens Ovesonn Bjelke served as Lord High Chancellor of Norway, and was himself descended from king Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V Magnusson was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319.-Biography:Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg of Denmark. Haakon was descended from king Saint Olav and is considered to have been the last Norwegian king in the Fairhair...
(the king and his forefathers thus also being Bildt's ancestors) through his daughter Agnes Hakonardottir, Dame of Borgarsyssel.
Early career
While studying at Stockholm University, Bildt was against the occupation of the Student Union BuildingOccupation of the Student Union Building
The occupation of the Student Union Building was one of the most talked about events in Sweden in 1968. Students at Stockholm University decided to occupy their own Student Union Building at Holländargatan in Stockholm on 24 May-27 May 1968 to send a political message to the government.The students...
in 1968 and was one of the co-founders of Borgerliga Studenter – Opposition '68
Borgerliga Studenter – Opposition '68
Borgerliga Studenter – Opposition '68 is a center-right political fraction of the compulsory student union at Stockholm University, created in 1968 as a reaction against the leftist student uprisings earlier the same year. Among its leading members have been Carl Bildt and Fredrik Reinfeldt, who...
later the same year, and served as chairman of the FMSF Confederation of Swedish Conservative and Liberal Students, a centre-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
student organisation, in the early 1970s. When the non-socialist formed government in 1976, Bildt came to serve as the Moderate party coordinator in his capacity as close collaborator of the then party leader and Minister of Economy Gösta Bohman. Bildt became a Member of Parliament
Parliament of Sweden
The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...
in 1979, although he instead served as State Secretary for Policy Coordination in the non-socialist government reformed after that election. As an MP in the early eighties, he became noted as an incisive and combative debater on foreign affairs, and found himself pitted against Prime Minister Olof Palme
Olof Palme
Sven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
. Bildt was elected leader of the Moderate Party in 1986, succeeding Ulf Adelsohn
Ulf Adelsohn
Ulf Adelsohn is a Swedish politician, leader of the Moderate Party from 1981 to 1986 and landshövding of Stockholm County in 1992-2001...
. In 1991 the Social Democrats were defeated by a four-party coalition led by Bildt's Moderates.
Prime minister
His government program was one of liberalizing and reforming the Swedish economy as well as making Sweden a member of the European Union. It initiated the negotiations for Sweden's accession to the European Union (though the work to prepare the ground, at home and versus the EEC/EU, had already started during the final year of the Social DemocraticSwedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
government. The Social Democrats' volte face on possible accession to the EEC was most likely a prerequisite for the positive referendum result) and Bildt signed the accession treaty at the European Union summit of Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, on 23 June 1994.
Oresund Bridge
The Øresund or Öresund Bridge is a combined twin-track railway and dual carriageway bridge-tunnel across the Øresund strait.The bridge connects Sweden and Denmark, and it is the longest road and rail bridge in Europe. The Øresund Bridge also connects two major Metropolitan Areas: those of the...
.
The period was also marked by a severe economic crisis. In November 1992, the crisis reached its climax as Sweden left the European Exchange Rate Mechanism
European Exchange Rate Mechanism
The European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM, was a system introduced by the European Community in March 1979, as part of the European Monetary System , to reduce exchange rate variability and achieve monetary stability in Europe, in preparation for Economic and Monetary Union and the introduction of...
(the ERM
ERM
ERM may refer to: In systems and processes:* European Exchange Rate Mechanism* European Reference Materials* Enterprise relationship management* Enterprise risk management* Entity-relationship model...
) and let the Krona float, after having defended the fixed exchange rate at tremendous cost. In some people's opinion, single-minded defense of the Krona led to and continues to draw heavy criticism. At the peak of the crisis and amid run-away budget deficits, a number of emergency cut-backs were negotiated with the Social Democrats. The different measures did contribute to a reduction in the public deficit in 1994 and 1995, and allegedly to revived growth in subsequent years. There is still some debate on whether the current (2006) growth levels are in part due to the devaluation of the Krona. Some see the increased importance of the export industry as testament to this.
The Social Democrats returned to power in September 1994, although Bildt's Moderate Party scored a slight gain.
In 1999 he was succeeded as party leader by Bo Lundgren
Bo Lundgren
Bo Axel Magnus Lundgren is a Swedish politician. He is the former leader of the Moderate Party. Lundgren was born in Kristianstad in Skåne. Between 1991 and 1994, he served as Deputy Minister of Finance with special responsibility for taxation...
.
Balkan conflict
After his term as Prime Minister, Bildt was active as a mediator in the BalkansBalkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
conflict, serving as the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Special Envoy to Former Yugoslavia from June 1995, Co-Chairman of the Dayton Peace Conference in November 1995, and High Representative
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
The High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was created in 1995 immediately after the Dayton Peace Agreement to oversee the civilian implementation of this agreement. The High Representative and the OHR represent the...
in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
from December 1995 to June 1997 immediately after the Bosnian War
Bosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Secretary General's Special Envoy for the Balkans.
In 1995, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
declared Carl Bildt a persona non grata
Persona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...
announcing that he had "lost the credibility necessary for the role of a peace mediator". Bildt had suggested that the President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, was as guilty of war crimes as the Krajina
Republic of Serbian Krajina
The Republic of Serbian Krajina was a self-proclaimed Serb entity within Croatia. Established in 1991, it was not recognized internationally. It formally existed from 1991 to 1995, having been initiated a year earlier via smaller separatist regions. The name Krajina means "frontier"...
Serb leader, Milan Martić
Milan Martic
Milan Martić is a Serbian politician, former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina...
.
During Operation Flash
Operation Flash
The Serbs in western Slavonia took part in the organized rebellion against the government of the Republic of Croatia that had just proclaimed independence in June 1991, by proclaiming the Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Western Slavonia in August 1991...
and Operation Storm
Operation Storm
Operation Storm is the code name given to a large-scale military operation carried out by Croatian Armed Forces, in conjunction with the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to gain back control of parts of Croatia which had been claimed by separatist ethnic Serbs, since early...
in Croatia he demanded military operations by OUN and/or NATO against Croatian army.
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt
The cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt is the current cabinet of Sweden. It is a coalition cabinet consisting of the four parties in the centre-right Alliance for Sweden: the Moderate Party, Centre Party, Liberal People's Party and the Christian Democrats...
led by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt
Fredrik Reinfeldt
John Fredrik Reinfeldt is the Prime Minister of Sweden, leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party and former President of the European Council...
. This was seen by many as a somewhat surprising move, because Bildt had already served both as Prime Minister and as leader of the Moderate Party and the previous conflict between Bildt and Reinfeldt.
Controversies and criticisms
The opposition parties and other politicians as well as newspaper columnists have questioned Carl Bildt’s suitability as Sweden’s Foreign Minister for his private stance on international issues as well as his private affairs as a businessman with interest in RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n gas giant Gazprom
Gazprom
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
, and Lundin Petroleum
Lundin Petroleum
Lundin Petroleum is an independent international petroleum company formed in 2001 and based in Sweden.-History:The company was formed in 2001 following the takeover of Lundin Oil AB by Canadian independent Talisman Energy, Lundin Petroleum AB is a Swedish oil company traded on the Stockholm Stock...
, an oil company with activities in war-torn Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
.
International crimes in Sudan
Carl Bildt joined the Board of Directors of Lundin Oil AB in 2000, after serious concerns had surfaced that the oil industry was exacerbating war in Sudan. Lundin Oil was the lead operator of a consortium that worked in an area that had become the centre stage of Sudan's civil war. Despite the fact that the allegations were backed by successive UN Special Rapporteurs http://www.ecosonline.org/reports/2003/%5Eindex.html/Statementbythespecialrapporteurbaum2003.pdf.html and a Canadian Government investigation http://www.ecosonline.org/reports/2000/%5Eindex.html/Human%20Security%20in%20Sudan.pdf.html, Bildt succeeded in winning the public controversy in Sweden, allowing Lundin Oil to pursue its activities in Sudan. In June 2010, the European Coalition on Oil in Sudan published the report 'Unpaid Debt', arguing why Lundin may have been complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The company has denied any wrongdoing, but after studying the report, the Swedish Public Prosecutor opened a criminal investigation. Following the decision by the public prosecutor, Members of Parliament in Sweden requested Bildt to step down, which he has refused to do.Private share capital
After having left his political position as leader of the Moderate Party in 1999, apart from being engaged on international issues, Bildt took up a number of private sector positions as well as with international think-tanks.In the later category, he served as the first non-US member ever of the Board of Trustees of the RAND Corporation (Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
) and on the Advisory Board of the Centre for European Reform
Centre for European Reform
The Centre for European Reform is a London-based think tank which supports European integration while arguing for institutional reform of the European Union...
(London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
). He was also a member of the board of the European Policy Center (Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
) as well as the International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
(London) and the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Affairs (New York).
In the corporate sector in the US, he served as non-executive director of the Baltimore-based US assets management company Legg Mason, Inc.
Among Swedish-dominated companies, he served as Chairman of the Board of Teleopti
Teleopti
Teleopti is a provider of software solutions for workforce management and telecom expense management . The company’s main focus is solutions for strategic workforce management in contact centers, as well as solutions for cost allocation and quality control of voice and IP enterprise networks.The...
as well as of the public affairs consultancy Kreab
Kreab
Kreab is a Swedish communication consultancy, the largest in the Nordic region. Kreab was founded as Kreativ Information AB by Jan-Erik Ander, Peje Emilsson and Peder Olin in Stockholm 1970...
AB, and Board member of the IT consultancy HiQ AB. He was also Chairman of Nordic Venture Network, bringing Nordic high-tech VC firms together in an informal network.
In 2002 Bildt joined the board of directors of Vostok Nafta, a financial company primarily with holdings in Gazprom
Gazprom
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...
. Bildt was also a member of the board of independent oil company Lundin Petroleum
Lundin Petroleum
Lundin Petroleum is an independent international petroleum company formed in 2001 and based in Sweden.-History:The company was formed in 2001 following the takeover of Lundin Oil AB by Canadian independent Talisman Energy, Lundin Petroleum AB is a Swedish oil company traded on the Stockholm Stock...
.
He left the board of directors of all these functions upon becoming Foreign Minister in October 2006.
Bildt has been criticized due to the potential conflict of interest due to his previous position in Vostok Nafta, although Bildt could not divest the stock options he has until the first two weeks of December 2006. Among other things the Swedish government has to decide whether or not to lend its support to the construction of a Russian gas pipeline in the Baltic sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
near the Swedish island of Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
. This conflict of interest might also affect relations between Sweden, other European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
countries and Russia, since many EU countries are dependent on Russian oil and gas for their energy needs. On 20 October 2006, Ulf Holm
Ulf Holm
Ulf Holm, born June 4, 1969 in Lund, is a Swedish Green Party politician, member of the Riksdag since 2002. He was a member of the European Parliament during 1995-1999. He is openly gay.-References:...
, a Member of Parliament for the Green Party, reported the Foreign Minister to the Riksdag Constitutional Committee in order to determine whether Bildt's private economic affairs might represent a conflict of interest. Carl Söderbergh, Secretary General for the Swedish section of Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, has also criticized Bildt since Human Rights issues are within the portfolio of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. However, the criticism against Bildt for his interests subsided after he announced his intentions of divesting himself of all financial ties with the company as soon as is possible. The work by the Constitutional Committee of the Parliament could not find any grounds for questioning the activities of Bildt in these regards. It also came to light that the Swedish state pension funds together had invested more than a billion Swedish krona
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
(140 million USD
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
or 75 million GBP
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
) in Vostok Nafta.
Bosnian war mediator criticisms
Carl Bildt has been criticized for his role as mediator in the Bosnian warBosnian War
The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between April 1992 and December 1995. The war involved several sides...
. Among other he was as prime minister
Prime Minister of Sweden
The Prime Minister is the head of government in the Kingdom of Sweden. Before the creation of the office of a Prime Minister in 1876, Sweden did not have a head of government separate from its head of state, namely the King, in whom the executive authority was vested...
accused of indifference to the ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
and genocide
Bosnian Genocide
The term Bosnian Genocide refers to either the genocide committed by Bosnian Serb forces in Srebrenica in 1995 or the ethnic cleansing campaign that took place throughout areas controlled by the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992–1995 Bosnian War....
committed by the Bosnian Serb forces against Muslim and Croat civilians. Bildt opposed any military intervention and criticized the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
in 1993 for calling NATO to intervene against the Bosnian Serb forces, which led to the Sunday Times calling Bildt and other EU leaders "robotic political pygmies" and their acceptance of the ongoing genocide "shameful".
Following Bildt's appointment as EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's special envoy to Yugoslavia, Tom Warrick from the Coalition for International Justice
Coalition for International Justice
The Coalition for International Justice was an international, non-profit organization based in both Washington D.C. and The Hague that supported the international war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, and criminal and transitional justice initiatives for East Timor, Sierra...
described Bildt as "dangerously misinformed about his own job description" and largely ignorant about the region. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
criticized Bildt for a nonchalant attitude towards the Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
where over 8,000 Bosniaks were killed, and described him as being burdened with a reputation for accepting Bosnian Serb claims of good behavior at face value and overlooking evidence of atrocities against civilians. Several international governments criticized Bildt for having been ineffective and too closely affiliated with the Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
in Bosnia and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
historian Marko Attila Hoare
Marko Attila Hoare
Marko Attila Hoare is a British historian of the former Yugoslavia who also writes about the current affairs of Southeast Europe, especially the Balkans including Turkey and the Caucasus.-Biography:...
accused Bildt of downplaying the number of victims killed in the Srebrenica massacre and ignoring Serbian war crimes. Bildt was also criticized for not mentioning the Srebrenica massacre during a lunch meeting on 15 July 1995 in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
with the Serbian President
President of Serbia
The President of Serbia is the head of state of Serbia. Presently serving as the head of state is Boris Tadić. He was elected with a narrow majority of 50.31% in the 2008 Serbian presidential elections.-Authority, legal and constitutional rights:...
, Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
and the commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić
Ratko Mladić is an accused war criminal and a former Bosnian Serb military leader. On May 31, 2011, Mladić was extradited to The Hague, where he was processed at the detention center that holds suspects for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...
, even though he had received reports about the ongoing massacre.
Following the early release of convicted war criminal Biljana Plavšić
Biljana Plavšic
Biljana Plavšić is a former president of Republika Srpska and war criminal. She is the highest ranking Bosnian Serb politician to be sentenced. She was indicted in 2001 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for war crimes committed during the Bosnian war...
from Swedish prison in 2009, Bildt was reported to Swedens Committee on the Constitution for being disqualified to take part in such a decision. Bildt was accused of being personally involved in the case and being personally close to Plavšić. Bildt testified at Plavšićs trial in 2002 at the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
praising her, calling her post-war actions "brave" and "courageous".
Other controversies
Bildt has also been questioned for his role as a member of the International Advisory Council of the Committee for the Liberation of IraqCommittee for the Liberation of Iraq
The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq was described as a "non-governmental organization" which described itself as a "distinguished group of Americans" who wanted to "free Iraq from Saddam Hussein"...
, a group with ties to the Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
pushing for an invasion of Iraq in 2003.
On 8 April 2008, during his visit in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Palestinian Authority, Bildt gave an interview to Swedish state radio, where he responded to a question on whether it was really possible to strike a peace deal without the involvement of the Palestinian group Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, which remained under international boycott. He responded that the Palestinian Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
-backed government could deal with Israel, in the same way that it was possible for the Israeli government to make peace with Fatah over the objections of the former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
, who, similarly to Hamas opposed a two-state deal. Israeli officials issued very strongly worded condemnations of this (calling it "horrible and stupid", saying it was an example of "chutzpah" and "complete ignorance of the Middle East"), on the grounds that they saw it as a way of comparing Hamas and Netanyahu as equals.
After the South Ossetian War, Bildt on his blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
wrote that the Russian rationale for its intervention, i.e. concern for the welfare of its expatriates in the Near Abroad
Near abroad
In political language of Russia and some other post-Soviet states, the near abroad refers to the newly independent republics which emerged after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and sometimes other nearby countries such as Finland and Mongolia....
, had certain similarities with the rationale for the annexation of Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
. The Russian reaction was strong, and the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Bildt is no longer considered welcome in Moscow. Bildt also called South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
n independence "a joke", and said it would be supported only by a "miserable" lot of countries.
It was revealed following the organization WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
release of classified diplomatic documents
United States diplomatic cables leak
The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began in February 2010 when WikiLeaks—a non-profit organization that publishes submissions from anonymous whistleblowers—began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates,...
that US diplomats considered Bildt an "stubborn, arrogant nobleman" and to have "limited political abilities". Bildt was also described as someone who thinks he has more power and influence than he really has and called him a "medium size dog with big dog attitude". The then US president George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
was advised before a meeting to "play on Bildt's desire to operate at a high level" and to pretend to be impressed by his previous international assignments. Other US diplomats and politicians were also advised and to play on Bildt's self image to "keep him on a good mood".
Internet activities
Bildt was an early pioneer among politicians of using the internetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
for communicating. On 4 February 1994, he sent an e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
to U.S. president
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, which was the first (as what is publicly known) ever electronic mail sent between two heads of government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
. In the e-mail he praised Clinton's decision to end the trade embargo on Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
In the same year he also started a weekly electronic newsletter
Electronic mailing list
An electronic mailing list is a special usage of email that allows for widespread distribution of information to many Internet users. It is similar to a traditional mailing list — a list of names and addresses — as might be kept by an organization for sending publications to...
, which was active until 2005. He is also active as a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, starting his first blog in February 2005. His current blog, started in January 2007, is one of the most widely read political blogs in Sweden.
On 30 May 2007 he officially opened a "Swedish embassy" in the virtual world
Virtual world
A virtual world is an online community that takes the form of a computer-based simulated environment through which users can interact with one another and use and create objects. The term has become largely synonymous with interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users take the form of...
Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
. The embassy, called "Second House of Sweden", is a virtual replica of House of Sweden
House of Sweden
House of Sweden is a building in Washington, D.C. which houses the diplomatic missions of the Kingdom of Sweden, the Principality of Liechtenstein, and the Republic of Iceland to the United States of America. The building is located at 2900 K Street N.W...
, the Swedish embassy building in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
.
During Bildt's time as Foreign Minister the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened up a channel on YouTube which has been active since early 2008.
Bildt also maintains a personal Twitter feed in English with approximately 65,000 subscribed followers.
Human rights advocacy
Carl Bildt is involved with the Institute for Information on the Crimes of CommunismInstitute for Information on the Crimes of Communism
The Institute for Information on the Crimes of Communism is a Sweden-based non-profit and non-governmental human rights organization, founded in 2008, with the stated purpose of "spreading essential information on the crimes of communism and to promote vigilance against all totalitarian...
, of which he is an honorary member and contributor to its publications.
Honours
Bildt was awarded H. M. The King's MedalH. M. The King's Medal
H. M. The King's Medal , earlier known as the Court Medal , is an honour that may be bestowed on Swedish citizens.-Honour:...
of the 12th size in 2003. He is a Commander of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
, and has an honorary doctorate from the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
.
Bildt is also a member of the Club of Madrid
Club of Madrid
The Club de Madrid is an independent non-profit organization created to promote democracy and change in the international community. Composed of 80 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 56 countries, the Club de Madrid is the world’s largest forum of former Heads of State and Government.Among...
, an independent non-profit organization composed of 81 democratic former Presidents and Prime Ministers from 57 different countries.
External links
- bildt.net, official website
- Alla Dessa Dagar, Bildt's Swedish-language blog
- Bildt Comments - Bildt's English-language blog (inactive)
- youtube.com/utrikesdepartementet - Bildt and the Ministry for Foreign AffairsMinistry for Foreign Affairs (Sweden)The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is responsible for Swedish foreign policy.Current ministers:*Carl Bildt Head of Office and Minister for Foreign Affairs.*Ewa Björling as Minister for Foreign Trade...
channel on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. - Sweden navigates complex waters of EU foreign policy, The Local
- "Assuring Peace and a European Future in Bosnia and Hercegovina, Open Letter to Carl Bildt in the light of the "Dayton-2"-negotiations at Butmir, Bosnia and Hercegovina, by Lord Paddy Ashdown, Wolfgang Petritsch und Christian Schwarz-Schilling, 18. Oktober 2009
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