List of ambassadors of Sweden to Somalia

Ambassador of
Sweden to Somalia
Lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden
Incumbent
Hans Henric Lundqvist
since 2025
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Swedish Embassy, Nairobi
StyleHis or Her Excellency (formal)
Mr. or Madam Ambassador (informal)
Reports toMinister for Foreign Affairs
SeatNairobi, Kenya[a]
AppointerGovernment of Sweden
Term lengthNo fixed term
Inaugural holderÅke Sjölin
FormationJuly 1961

The Ambassador of Sweden to Somalia (known formally as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to the Federal Republic of Somalia) is the official representative of the government of Sweden to the president of Somalia and Federal Government of Somalia. The ambassador is based at the Somalia Section at the Swedish Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.

History

On the occasion of Somalia’s declaration of independence on 1 July 1960, Acting Foreign Minister Herman Kling sent a congratulatory telegram to Somalia’s head of government, Abdullahi Issa, in which he stated that the Swedish government recognized the Somali Republic as a sovereign and independent state. The telegram also expressed hopes for friendly and cordial relations between the two countries. Sweden was represented at the celebrations in Mogadishu by its envoy in Addis Ababa, Åke Sjölin, who had been instructed to convey the King’s congratulations.[1]

In July 1961, Ambassador Sjölin, based in Addis Ababa, was appointed as Sweden’s first envoy to Somalia when he was also accredited to Mogadishu.[2] On 6 December 1961, Sjölin presented his credentials to President Cheab in Mogadishu.[3]

Sweden has never had a resident Swedish ambassador in Mogadishu. Instead, the Swedish ambassadors based in the capitals of nearby countries—Addis Ababa (1961–1964), Cairo (1964–1970, 1980–1981), and Dar es Salaam (1971–1979)—were accredited to Mogadishu from 1961. From 1980 onward, the ambassador was based in Stockholm.

In 1991, the collapse of the Somali Democratic Republic amid the outbreak of the Somali Civil War left the country without a central government. Krister Göranson was Sweden’s ambassador to Somalia during 1992. In early 1993, it was reported that there was no formal government or president in Somalia who could accredit Swedish diplomats.[4] As a result, the ambassadorial post remained vacant from 1992 onward.

In April 2013, a new Swedish ambassador to Somalia was appointed after the post had been vacant since 1992.[5] That same year, the ambassador was based at the Somalia Section of the Swedish Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. The ambassador, who heads the section, travels regularly to Somalia.[6][7]

List of representatives

Name Period Title Notes Ref
Åke Sjölin 1961–1964 Ambassador Resident in Addis Ababa. [8]
Adolf Croneborg 1964–1966 Ambassador Resident in Cairo. [9]
Tord Hagen 1967–1970 Ambassador Resident in Cairo. [10][11][12]
Sven Fredrik Hedin 1971–1973 Ambassador Resident in Dar es Salaam [13]
Knut Granstedt 1973–1977 Ambassador Resident in Dar es Salaam [14]
Lennart Eckerberg 1977–1979 Ambassador Resident in Dar es Salaam [15]
Axel Edelstam 1980–1981 Ambassador Resident in Cairo. [16]
Arne Fältheim 1980–1983 Ambassador Resident in Stockholm. [17]
Finn Bergstrand 1983–1986 Ambassador Resident in Stockholm. [18]
Lars Arnö 1986–1988 Ambassador Resident in Stockholm. [19]
Lars Schönander 1988–1992 Ambassador Resident in Stockholm. [20]
Krister Göranson 1992–1992 Ambassador Resident in Stockholm. [b]
No Swedish ambassador was accredited to Somalia between 1992 and 2013.
Mikael Lindvall April 2013 – July 2017 Ambassador Resident in Nairobi. [5][23][6]
Andreas von Uexküll 1 September 2017 – 2019 Ambassador Resident in Nairobi. [24]
Staffan Tillander 1 September 2019 – 2021 Ambassador Resident in Nairobi. [25]
Per Lindgärde 2021–2023 Ambassador Resident in Nairobi. [26]
Joachim Waern August 2023 – 2025 Ambassador Resident in Nairobi. [27]
Hans Henric Lundqvist 2025 – present Ambassador Resident in Nairobi. [28]

Footnotes

  1. ^ The ambassador is based at the Somalia Section at the Swedish Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.
  2. ^ From 1992 the position was vacant.[4][21][22]

References

  1. ^ "Gratulationer från Sverige" [Congratulations from Sweden]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 2 July 1960. p. 6A. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  2. ^ "Sändebud" [Envoy]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 28 July 1961. p. 18A. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Åke Sjölin". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 8 December 1961. p. 18A. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  4. ^ a b "President Bush rosade svenska fältsjukhuset" [President Bush praised the Swedish field hospital]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). TT. 4 January 1993. p. 8. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Betänkande 2013/14:UU15: Mänskliga rättigheter i svensk utrikespolitik" (in Swedish). Riksdag. 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2025. För första gången sedan 1992 utsåg Sverige i april 2013 en ambassadör till Somalia. [For the first time since 1992, Sweden appointed an ambassador to Somalia in April 2013.]
  6. ^ a b ""Min hjälte – han räddade mig"" [“My hero – he saved me”]. SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2025. Det var Sveriges Somaliaambassadör, Mikael Lindvall, som arbetar från Nairobi. [It was Sweden's Ambassador to Somalia, Mikael Lindvall, who works from Nairobi.]
  7. ^ "Somaliasektionen" [Somalia Section] (in Swedish). Embassy of Sweden, Nairobi. 5 April 2023. Archived from the original on 13 May 2025. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  8. ^ Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 998. ISBN 91-1-914072-X. SELIBR 8261513.
  9. ^ Sveriges statskalender 1966 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. 1966. pp. 290, 298.
  10. ^ Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 419. ISBN 91-1-914072-X. SELIBR 8261513.
  11. ^ Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1970). Sveriges statskalender 1970 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. p. 349.
  12. ^ Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1972). Sveriges statskalender för skottåret 1972 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. p. 353. SELIBR 3682755.
  13. ^ Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 456. ISBN 91-1-914072-X. SELIBR 8261513.
  14. ^ Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1985 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1985] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 1984. p. 388. ISBN 91-1-843222-0. SELIBR 3681527.
  15. ^ Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1979). Sveriges statskalender 1979 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber. p. 351. ISBN 91-38-04622-9. SELIBR 3682760.
  16. ^ Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1981). Sveriges statskalender 1981 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber. p. 351. ISBN 91-38-06008-6. SELIBR 3682762.
  17. ^ Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1994). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1995 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1995] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 364. ISBN 91-1-943202-X. SELIBR 8261514.
  18. ^ Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1986). Sveriges statskalender 1986 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber Allmänna. pp. 59, 365. ISBN 91-38-08944-0. SELIBR 3682765.
  19. ^ Almqvist, Gerd, ed. (1997). Sveriges statskalender 1997 (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 73. ISBN 9138309734. SELIBR 3682776.
  20. ^ Salander Mortensen, Jill, ed. (1996). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1997 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1997] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 997. ISBN 91-1-960852-7. SELIBR 3681533.
  21. ^ Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1998). Sveriges statskalender 1998 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. pp. 87, 191. ISBN 9138313111. SELIBR 3682777.
  22. ^ Carlsson, Gunilla. "Interpellation 2012/13:146 av Hägg, Carina (S): Situationen i Somalia - Anf. 187 Statsrådet Gunilla Carlsson (M)" [Interpellation 2012/13:146 by Hägg, Carina (S): The situation in Somalia - Speech 187 Prime Minister Gunilla Carlsson (M)] (in Swedish). Riksdag. Retrieved 13 May 2025. Sverige har inte haft en ambassadör ackrediterad till Somalia sedan 1992. [Sweden has not had an ambassador accredited to Somalia since 1992.]
  23. ^ Lindvall, Mikael [@MikaelLindvall] (19 July 2017). "An honour & privilege to have served 5 years in this great country & to have witnessed steady progress in peace- and statebuilding. @SweMFA" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 May 2025 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Ny ambassadör i Somalia" [New ambassador to Somalia] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  25. ^ "Ny ambassadör i Somalia" [New ambassador to Somalia] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  26. ^ "Ny ambassadör i Somalia" [New ambassador to Somalia] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  27. ^ "Joachim Waern ny ambassadör i Somalia" [Joachim Waern new ambassador to Somalia] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  28. ^ "Ny ambassadör i Somalia" [New ambassador to Somalia] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 7 August 2025. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
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