Today Swedish top diplomat Sverker Åström died at the age of 96.
He was basically the architect behind Sweden's security policy doctrine during the cold war: "Non-alignment in peace aiming at neutrality during war". Radio Sweden has the story in English. As a diplomat I don't think Sverker Åström liked Wikileaks and #Cablegate. I talked to the Sweden's ambassador to Berlin once and he was shocked by Wikileaks. Such transparency would make all diplomatic work impossible.
There is anyway a link from Sverker Åström to Wikileaks. I founded Sweden's "free speech" Internet Service Provider, named Bahnhof, in 1994. Sverker Åström posed for a Christmas card to Bahnhof's customers where he says that he has sent all his op-ed articles to newspapers from his Bahnhof mail since 1998: He sits in Bahnhof's first major hosting center. I parted with my colleagues in 2004, but they uphold the free speech tradition. Hence, Bahnhof was the main hoster for Wikileaks when #Cablegate was released, but hosted in their new James Bond-like hosting bunker, Pionen White Mountains.
Jan Eliasson, another Swedish top diplomat and former Foreign Minister says in Dagens Nyheter: "He had a drastic humour and spread enourmous joy around himself with his eccentric behavior, bicycled in tuxedo to gala dinners, had red and green socks". The latter can indeed be seen in the picture above, taken when he was 87. At 88 he came out as gay. In 2004 he was bestowed the major Prize at the QX Gay Gala, "This Year's Homo".
When Sverker Åström turned 90 I revealed that he had actually performed work for Bahnhof. A link to my birthday article (in Swedish).
I picture googled and discovered an image of us, apparently at an opening party for a restaurant in Stockholm, Roxy. Image is deep-linked from this article.
At the end of his life he created the Sverker Åström Foundation for the Furtherance of Swedish-Russian Relations: "The fellowships are designed to allow a number of young citizens of the Russian Federation, aged 20 to 35 years, to acquaint themselves with conditions and achievements in Sweden in their respective fields of interest, such as political science, law, economy and administration. Other fields may include art, music, dance and theatre. "
Links to Swedish media about his death: QX, DN, SvD, SvD, AB, HD, GP, Carina Rydberg.
Don't miss my two recent articles about "Assange, Ecuador, Rape, and Sweden", Part 1, Part 2. Part 3 will follow. I discovered that my two first postings have been translated to Spanish and published by Ecuador's state newspaper El Telégrafo without my knowledge. Sure I could accept that, but I think they should spell my name right and give a linkt to my blog and my new book A Brief History of Swedish Sex, on the subject of Sweden and Assange.
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