Laila Freivalds
| Laila Freivalds | |
|---|---|
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Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden Acting |
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In office 1 October 2004 – 1 November 2004 |
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| Prime Minister | Göran Persson |
| Preceded by | Jan Karlsson |
| Succeeded by | Bo Ringholm |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs | |
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In office 10 October 2003 – 21 March 2006 |
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| Prime Minister | Göran Persson |
| Preceded by | Jan Karlsson (Acting) |
| Succeeded by | Bo Ringholm (Acting) |
| Minister for Justice | |
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In office 7 October 1994 – 21 September 2000 |
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| Prime Minister | Ingvar Carlsson |
| Preceded by | Gun Hellsvik |
| Succeeded by | Lena Hjelm-Wallén |
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In office 4 October 1988 – 4 October 1991 |
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| Prime Minister | Ingvar Carlsson |
| Preceded by | Thage Peterson |
| Succeeded by | Gun Hellsvik |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Laila Ligita Freivalds 22 June 1942 Riga, Reichskommissariat Ostland (now Latvia) |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | Uppsala University |
Laila Ligita Freivalds (born 22 June 1942) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician and who served as Minister for Justice from 1988 to 1991 and again from 1994 to 2000, as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2006 and as Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden briefly in 2004.
Freivalds was born in Riga, Reichskommissariat Ostland, during World War II, and escaped to Sweden with her family. She graduated with a Candidate of Law (juris kandidat) from Uppsala University in 1970 after which she served in the Swedish Court System until 1976. From 1976 onwards she held senior posts at the Swedish Consumer Agency, before being appointed Minister for Justice in 1988. With the exception of the years 1991–1994, when her party was in opposition, she continued to hold that office until she resigned in 2000 over a controversy in which she was criticised, as a private individual, for trying to convert her tenancy into a condominium, circumventing a controversial housing tenure law that she was responsible for introducing and advocating in her public role as Minister of Justice. Since this scandal, her relations with the press have been strained.
After the assassination of Anna Lindh in 2003, Freivalds was asked to succeed her as Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Laila Freivalds was severely criticised in the Swedish press for the way the Swedish Government handled the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster, and has admitted that her ministry "ought to have reacted much more strongly as early as Boxing Day instead of waiting for more information." In addition, she was heavily criticised for going to the theatre on 26 December 2004, the day of the tsunami disaster, and for stating that she does not listen to the news when she is not working.
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