Anna Lindh, the Swedish foreign minister, had conducted a very strong campaign for a 'yes" vote in advance of the country’s referendum on joining the euro on 14 September, 2003. On the afternoon of Thursday 11 September, she took a short break to go shopping. She was attacked and stabbed by a still unidentified person. Later she died at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm. She was 46 years old.
The lost prime minister
The assassination of Anna Lindh took place not far from where Olof Palme, then prime minister, was killed seventeen years ago. As a teenager in the 1960s, Anna Lindh first entered politics because of Olof Palme and his opposition to the United States war in Vietnam.
Olof Palme was the politician she admired most of all. She often talked about the Palme era, saying that she was proud of being a member of the Social Democratic party with its history of anti-colonialism, respect for the independence of small countries, and engagement with human-rights issues.
Anna Lindh was chairman of the Socialist youth movement for eight years while she was a student of law. She became minister for the environment in 1994, and four years later was appointed minister of foreign affairs.
In the latter post, among her main objectives were to encourage dialogue between the rich and the poor worlds, and to support the independence of the Palestinian and Kurdish peoples. She played a decisive role in establishing European Union peacekeeping troops in Macedonia. She was very critical of the right-wing governments in Turkey and Israel, and her relationship with Ariel Sharon was tense.
After 9/11, she accepted the American war against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan but opposed the United States-led war in Iraq, both morally and legally. In an especially outspoken remark she blamed the US for causing a split in Europe through its support for the continent’s “new” against its “old”.
Anna Lindh was expected to succeed Göran Persson as party chairman. She would have been the first female leader of the party, and Swedish women would almost have forced her to accept the position. She told me that politically it would be a great honour to lead the Social Democratic party, and (if the party remained in government) the country.
But at the same time she felt an enormous responsibility for her family and for her two young boys, aged 13 and 8. She wanted to keep her own and her family’s privacy untouched. She read a lot, loved theatre and art. Her father is a well-known painter.
The impact on the referendum
As a younger politician Anna Lindh had been against Sweden joining the European Union. Her opinion changed gradually and in the membership referendum in 1994 she campaigned in favour.
Inside the EU, Anna Lindh emphasised issues like openness, democracy, and peacekeeping but also equality between the sexes. She was especially engaged in combatting the trafficking of women – a particular responsibility for the Nordic countries because of their closeness to eastern Europe and Russia.
During the 2003 referendum on the euro, Anna Lindh was the frontrunner for the "yes" side. She was exposed to harsh criticism from the ‘no’ side, especially after she wrote a newspaper article together with the chief executive of Ericsson; it said that Swedish companies would leave the country in the event of a "no" vote. People inside the labour movement blamed her for being a sort of traitor and some used obviously sexist arguments against her.
Tempers during the referendum campaign have been very agitated - partly because Sweden still does not fully accept being a member of the European Union and partly because people on the left, in the trade unions and environment movement perceive membership of the euro as an attack on the welfare state, women’s emancipation, and democracy.
It is not yet clear if the assassin had any political connection or was driven by political motives, but it may be that the political climate and the confrontation surrounding the campaign affected the person.
Today, 11 September, the leaders of the political parties decided that the referendum will take place as planned on 14 September – in order, they say, to respect democracy and honour Anna Lindh.
The opinion polls have so far given the "no" side a lead of about ten percentage points, though this has been narrowing in the past week. It is not yet clear how the assassination of Anna Lindh will influence the result; after the murder of Olof Palme the support for his Social Democratic party increased by around 6%-7%.
The opinions polls reveal that a huge majority of women (53% versus 29%) favour the "no" side. Maybe this tendency will change in sympathy for Anna Lindh. But most politicians now avoid speculating about the voting results. Their campaigning over the referendum has been cancelled; no further debate will take place on television or radio.
The last campaign
What worries the politicians and the public most of all is how and whether Sweden in the future will be able to guarantee its open society, where ministers can walk among people and where distances between political leaders and citizens remain as small as possible.
Sweden has already paid a very high price for its openness: two leading politicians assassinated in two decades. How do we avoid a "supervision society"? That is a key question for all democracies in a time overshadowed by terrorism.
Anna Lindh knew that if she became prime minister her private life would be exposed to the public, and the media would cover every detail of her life. She always thought about what happened to Olof Palme.
Anna, a close friend for fifteen years, never gave me a clear answer about whether or not she would accept the party leadership if offered. Anna last called me three days ago. She was sad and hurt by the internal party struggle over the EU, and indignant about the many personal attacks on her political stance.
She said that she no longer believed in referenda as a political instrument. The price was too high. Both the party and the country were on the verge of being torn. And the debate was too personalised. She said: “This will be the last referendum”.
