Swedish Ambassador Reflects on Slain Colleague, Friend by Gail Scott Sept. 11, 2001, will always be a day Americans and their friends around the world remember with horror, a day when we remember just how fragile life is. But for Swedes, and in particular Swedish Ambassador Jan Eliasson, this past Sept. 11 was again a morning that began with terrible, unthinkable news. Anna Lindh, Swedenís highly respected and beloved foreign minister, died at 9:30 in the morning on Sept. 11, 2003, after being repeatedly stabbed the day before in a Stockholm department store. Hours after the attack, Swedes around the world held their breath, hoping for good news in the morning. But alas, Lindhóa wife and mother of two young boys, an important social democratic leader, a major role model in Sweden and a shining light for a new Europeówas gone. She was gone in a way that was eerily reminiscent of an incident 17 years earlier, when Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot and killed walking home from a Stockholm cinema, just a few streets from where Lindh was stabbed. Once again, the unthinkable had happened with Lindhís stabbing, and it ha ppened in a nation renowned for being an ìopen society,î where top Swedish leaders pride themselves on taking the bus to work, shopping alone, bringing their children to work, and going out to dinner or the cinemaóall without any protection. No bodyguards, no bulletproof vests, no security detail. Despite the fact that Palme was murdered in broad daylight and his killer never found, Swedish politicians remained open and visible to the people they represented. Many say the closing of Swedenís psychiatric wards to lower the nationís health care expenses is a public safety factor that has not been properly addressed. As of press time, Mijailo Mijailovic, a 24-year-old Swede with reported mental health problems and family roots in the former Yugoslavia, was being held in connection with Lindhís murder. ìNaturally, consequences have to be drawn from this horrible act of violence,î said Ambassador Eliasson. ìWe have to provide better security for potential targets like the foreign minister of Sweden. We have to be able to combine the open society with decent protection of our leading politicians.î Eliasson worked closely with both Palme as his diplomatic adviser from 1982 to 1983 and with Lindh as her deputy. When the ambassadorís wife, Kerstin, a science counselor at his embassy, called from Sweden at 3:30 a.m. with the news of Lindhís stabbing, ìI thought, not again, not one more time,î Eliasson said. ìI met Anna Lindh for the first time at Olof Palmeís funeralÖ. That morning it all came back,î the ambassador recalled, sitting in his circular office on 15th Street almost a month after hearing the shocking news. Another woman, Laila Freivalds, now serves as Swedenís minister of foreign affairs. A native of Latvia, Freivalds previously served as a Swedish judge, minister of justice and, in the last three years, director of the Swedish Performing Arts. But for many, Lindh remains irreplaceable. Eliasson returned to Stockholm for Lindhís memorial service, and he organized and spoke at her service here in Washington. He was also asked to speak at the funeral of another friend and respected colleague, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the revered U.N. special representative who was killed in the August bombing of the U.N. Headquarters in Iraq. ìSometimes when you face death, you get depressed. You are immobilized by grief, despair,î said Eliasson. ìBut I knew my job was to be here with my embassy, my staffÖ. I also knew that it was crucial to make sure that Annaís and Sergioís sacrifices were not in vain.î The ambassador added, ìWe must draw life from death,î a vow he took in 1992 when he witnessed hundreds of children dying in Somalia as the undersecretary for humanitarian affairs at the United Nations, the same job Mello had once held. ìI am very ënowí oriented Ö to live in the present, including memories of the past and dreams for the future,î said Eliasson, who has lived in the United States on four different occasions, the first as a foreign exchange student in Indiana. ìYou must have roots, your background, and wings, your curiosity to search for new solutions. ìAnna Lindh was no doubt going to be our next prime minister, our first woman,î the ambassador continued. ìShe was especially important to Swedish women, especially young women.î Eliasson mentioned that his younger daughter Emily had also called from Sweden when Lindh was stabbed, crying and telling him, ìSomebody stole our future.î Some Swedes went so far as to call Lindh their ìcrown princess.î Others referred to her as the ìface of Sweden,î and she had been working to modernize and change that face to build a stronger, more unified Europe. ìAnna Lindh was strongly in favor of Sweden accepting the Euro as its common currency, mainly because she saw the integration of Europe as a peace project,î Eliasson explained. Just before her murder, the foreign minister was campaigning vigorously for Swedes to accept the Euro. But on Sept. 14, three days after her death, Swedish voters rejected the Euro, joining the ranks of Britain and Denmark, the two other European Union member countries that have also retained their currencies. ìWe owe it to Anna,î the ambassador continued, ìto be more active in other fields when it comes to building the new Europe. ìAnna Lindh and I were a great team. She was my minister but also a friendÖ. All the [European Union] ambassadors knew her, those in Brussels knew her, the whole Nordic family, people came of different ranks, not just the ambassadors,î Eliasson said, referring to those who came to write their fond farewells in the embassyís book of condolences. For three days, the ambassador was there to greet them, taking the book home every night to read the touching tributes and personal memories. ìColin Powell came personally to write in her book,î Eliasson said, noting that the secretary of state was one of only three non-Swedes scheduled to speak at Lindhís memorial service in Stockholmís Town Hall, the same site of Palmeís service 17 years ago. However, Hurricane Isabel prevented Powell from leaving Washington that day. ìAnna will be remembered for her outstanding contributions to international diplomacy and trans-Atlantic relations,î wrote Powell of his ìcherished colleague.î Powellís tribute also read, ìShe had a special energy, integrity and compassion, and she spent a great deal of her time focusing her efforts on global humanitarian issues.î Recounting the close friendship between Powell and Lindh, Eliasson said, ìThey were always joking, having fun. When Powell said, ëMy favorite three things about Sweden are Abba, Volvo and Anna Lindh,í Anna Lindh would quip, ëNo! Itís the other way around,í making herself number one on his list.î Eliasson added, ìWatching them together was like watching a tennis game: The ball didnít even bounceóthere were only volleys and their note-takers found it very hard to keep up.î Knowing how much Powell loved Volvos, for example, Lindh once brought him a special Volvo wrench from Sweden as his ìofficialî gift. At Lindhís Washington, D.C., memorial service held at Augustana Lutheran Church off 16th Street, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage spoke on behalf of Powell, who was at the United Nations that morning with President Bush. He described Lindh as ìone of Europeís brightest stars and warmest lights.î Norwegian Ambassador Knut Vollebaek, formerly his countryís foreign minister, called Lindh ìmy closest colleague and best adviser Ö in foreign policy.î He noted that ìpetty politics was not her fieldî and the fact that ìwe represented different political colors never interfered in our friendship and cooperation.î At a meeting in Brussels, for instance, when Lindh had to leave before several issues were to be discussed in which Vollebaek had hoped to have her support, she handed him a note decorated with a smiling face and a sketch of the Swedish flag. ìSorry that I disappoint you, Knut,î it read. ìBut look at this paper as you speak, and youíll know Iím with you in spirit.î Mona Sahlin, Swedish minister for democracy and integration issues, spoke about her ìbest friendî of more than 30 years who was always sending her ìmessages from boring meetings Ö remembering my kidsí birthdays Ö baking bread from the countries she visited.î Sahlin concluded by reading a short poem by Swedish poet Helga Henschen that Lindh herself had read at the funeral of Palme. At the Washington service, Eliasson quoted European Union External Relations Commissioner Christopher Patton, who spoke at Lindhís Stockholm eulogy: ìSome of the most beautiful pi eces of music are the unfinished symphonies.î The Swedish ambassador added that what mattered most in politics and diplomacy to his ìtoughî but ìlovingî friend ìwas not the hands she shookóit was the hearts she touched.î Gail Scott, author of ìDiplomatic Dance: The New Embassy Life in America,î is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.