OSCE Chairman-in-Office appalled by murder of Swedish Foreign Minister
(Swedish Foreign Ministry)The late Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ms. Anna Lindh. (Swedish Foreign Ministry)
THE HAGUE, 11 September 2003 - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Netherlands Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said today he was shocked and appalled by the murder of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.
"This cowardly act of violence is a terrible shock to me, not only as a colleague but also personally," he said.
"In Anna Lindh we are losing a formidably talented politician, a great diplomat and a close friend with whom I was in touch on an almost daily basis and for whom I had the greatest admiration. She impressed all of us in numerous meetings of Foreign Ministers with her candour, her personality and her ambitions. That she should be cut down in the prime of life is completely incomprehensible."
"Anna Lindh believed deeply in the principles of democracy and human rights that the OSCE stands for," the CiO added. "I am deeply sorry that she can no longer promote these principles, which were also her political ideals. Her death is a senseless tragedy. My thoughts are with her husband and children. I offer my condolences to Prime Minister Goran Persson and the Swedish government."
"This cowardly act of violence is a terrible shock to me, not only as a colleague but also personally," he said.
"In Anna Lindh we are losing a formidably talented politician, a great diplomat and a close friend with whom I was in touch on an almost daily basis and for whom I had the greatest admiration. She impressed all of us in numerous meetings of Foreign Ministers with her candour, her personality and her ambitions. That she should be cut down in the prime of life is completely incomprehensible."
"Anna Lindh believed deeply in the principles of democracy and human rights that the OSCE stands for," the CiO added. "I am deeply sorry that she can no longer promote these principles, which were also her political ideals. Her death is a senseless tragedy. My thoughts are with her husband and children. I offer my condolences to Prime Minister Goran Persson and the Swedish government."