The Swedish Government has appointed Sweden’s next ambassador to Thailand, after Klas Molin. Taking on the Ambassador role is a diplomat familiar with the region, namely Sweden’s previous Ambassador to Vietnam at the Embassy in Hanoi, Mr Staffan Herrström.
During his last stint in Asia, his time as ambassador to Vietnam was shortened, as Sweden decided to close down the mission in Hanoi (later reopened).
Staffan Herrström has just finished his four-year term as ambassador in Warsaw, where he took office in 2011. A former politician, Mr Herrström was once the leader writer of the daily newspaper Göteborgsposten; worked for six years at SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation) as Head of Unit and Director General; and as Secretary of State at the Cabinet Office. In addition to Hanoi, where Staffan Herrström began his posting in October 2010, he has served as Sweden’s Ambassador to Dar es Salaam.
As Sweden’s Ambassador in Poland Staffan Herrström recently received an Order of Merit to the Republic of Poland with a Star for his contributions to Polish-Swedish partnership. He is known for his strong support of human rights and equality and promotion of Polish-Swedish cooperation in commerce and culture.
In his address at the awarding Herrström said his main goal as ambassador had been to give a practical dimension to Poland’s and Sweden’s strategic partnership and expand cooperation between the two countries, whose examples are the Eastern Partnership project and the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.
The Ambassador wrote, in July, in his last newsletter to the Swedish community in Poland that he and his wife was very happy and satisfied with the next appointment to Thailand, viewing it as something “exciting and a slightly different. Exciting and a bit different challenges await.”
The Ambassador will begin his new position sometime in September 2015.
See also: Sweden-Vietnam diplomatic relations to be continued
Link to: Ambassador’s last monthly letter to Swedes living in Poland
