Swedish Foreign Minister quits

Wednesday March 22nd 2006, 10:41 am
Filed under: Newspapers

Swedish Foreign Minister quits
Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds has resigned following months of criticism that built to a crescendo in recent days. Freivalds said that the situation had made it impossible for her to do her job. ‘[On Monday evening] I held a press conference in Brussels on the election in Belarus and none of the journalists were interested in that issue. That was when I realised this is impossible,’ Freivalds explained. In recent days her position became untenable as it emerged that that she knew that a foreign ministry official contacted the internet hosting company which later closed the website of the Sweden Democrats. Speaking to journalists at the time, Freivalds had denied prior knowledge of this. However, on Monday it became clear that she had been consulted on the matter. Opposition leaders called for her resignation, saying that she had lost the confidence of the people. They were joined by the government’s ally, the Green Party. Freivalds had also faced months of criticism following her handling of the tsunami catastrophe. (The Local,March 22, 2006)

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