1st July 2014
28 June marked the centenary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand – the event that set in train the outbreak of the First World War. Of course the causes of the war were much more complicated than one violent act. Last week we hosted an event at the Residence where British historian Andrew Oldfield […]
30th June 2014
Much ink has already been spilled (or many keys have already been tapped) in analysing the European Council’s decision to nominate Jean-Claude Juncker to head the European Commission. My government has been clear that the decision was wrong in principle, as a matter as process and as an issue of policy. For that reason the […]
23rd June 2014
On 18 September, voters in Scotland will be asked “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. The UK and Scottish Governments agree that the question is for people in Scotland to decide. The UK Government strongly believes that Scotland’s future is better staying within the United Kingdom, but it has of course pledged to respect the […]
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30th May 2014
The referendum on Scottish independence draws ever nearer and the debate is intensifying on both sides. As part of that debate, the UK government has published its 14th paper in a series of analyses, which set out the case for Scotland’s continued Union with the rest of the UK. The focus of this latest paper […]
9th May 2014
Britain and Sweden see eye to eye on the implications of the Ukraine crisis. Here’s a translation of the article I wrote for Swedish national newspaper Dagens Industri today. In less than three weeks’ time, the people of Ukraine go to the polls in Presidential elections that will determine the future direction of their country. According […]
28th April 2014
Only the sound of birdsong broke the silence as we stood with our heads bowed. A gentle wind rustled the blossom in the trees on the hillside as a hundred people gathered to remember the sacrifice of the young men of Australia, New Zealand and Canada who fought and died for the freedom of Europe […]
24th April 2014
Yesterday at the Residence we marked St George’s Day, the feast day of England’s patron saint, and the week of the 450th anniversary of the birth of England’s and the world’s greatest dramatist and poet,William Shakespeare. A British architect, Rueben Thorpe, talked to us about the excavation of the Rose Theatre in London, one of the […]
31st March 2014
When I was learning Swedish in London I studied in a language training centre, where post pupils were European business men and women seeking to improve their English. While I tried to do my Swedish homework, my thoughts often strayed to what I could overhear of the classes in the neighbouring rooms. Hearing the teachers […]
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26th March 2014
The Swedish Chamber of Commerce in the UK hosted an excellent event in Stockholm this week for Swedish companies thinking of investing in the UK. We had inspirational talks from the MDs of Izettle and Envac, two of the many innovative Swedish companies doing great business in Great Britain. I was delighted to have the […]
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24th March 2014
I was honoured to be invited to the Nobel Museum on Friday by my friend and colleague, the Irish Ambassador, James Carroll, to take part in a celebration of the life and work of the Nobel prize winning poet Seamus Heaney. The poem I chose to read was “Digging”, in which the young poet expresses […]
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