Carl Bildt

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Carl Bildt bigraphy, stories - Politicain, diplomat, former prime minister

Carl Bildt : biography

15 July 1949 –

Nils Daniel Carl Bildt, KCMGhttp://www.parliament.uk/deposits/depositedpapers/2009/DEP2009-2154.doc (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He was the leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999 and has served as Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs since 6 October 2006.

Bildt has also been noted internationally as a mediator in the Balkan conflict, serving as the European Union’s Special Envoy to the Former Yugoslavia from June 1995, co-chairman of the Dayton Peace Conference in November 1995 and High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from December 1995 to June 1997, immediately after the Bosnian War. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Balkans.

Prime Minister

His government policies focused on liberalizing and reforming the Swedish economy and making Sweden a member of the European Union. It initiated negotiations for Sweden’s accession to the European Union, though the work to prepare the ground, at home and versus the EEC/EU, had already started during the final year of the Social Democratic government. The Social Democrats’ volte face on possible accession to the EEC was most likely a prerequisite for the positive referendum result. Bildt signed the accession treaty at the European Union summit of Corfu, Greece, on 23 June 1994.

Economic reforms were enacted, including voucher schools, liberalizing markets for telecommunications and energy, privatizing publicly owned companies and health care, contributing to liberalizing the Swedish economy. Arguably, the subsequent budget cut-backs agreement with the Social Democrats and the continued spending cuts by the Social Democratic government following 1994 did more to reform the Swedish economy and the Swedish model than Bildt’s government’s program. The government’s effectiveness was hampered by in-fighting, most memorably over the construction of the Oresund Bridge.

The period was marked by a severe economic crisis.Between 1990 and 1994, per capita income declined by approximately 10% – http://hdr.undp.org/docs/publications/ocational_papers/oc26c.htm. In November 1992, the crisis reached its climax when Sweden left the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (the "ERM") and let the Krona float, after having defended the fixed exchange rate at tremendous cost. In some people’s opinion, single-minded defense of the Krona led to and continues to draw heavy criticism. Emergency cut-backs were negotiated with the Social Democrats during the crisis. The measures helped reduce the public deficit in 1994 and 1995, and allegedly revived growth in subsequent years. There is debate on whether the economic growth of 2006 were due to the devaluation of the Krona. Some see the increased importance of the export industry as testament to this.

The Social Democrats returned to power in September 1994, although Bildt’s Moderate Party scored a slight gain.

In 1999, Bildt was succeeded as party leader by Bo Lundgren.

Minister for Foreign Affairs

On 6 October 2006, Bildt was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the newly formed cabinet of Fredrik Reinfeldt. This was seen by many as a surprising move as Bildt had already served both as prime minister and as leader of the Moderate Party and the previous conflict between Bildt and Reinfeldt. His confidence was renewed by Fredrik Reinfeldt following the 2010 general election.

Balkan conflict

After his term as prime minister, Bildt was active as a mediator in the Balkans conflict, serving as the European Union Special Envoy to Former Yugoslavia from June 1995, co-chairman of the Dayton Peace Conference in November 1995, and High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from December 1995 to June 1997 immediately after the Bosnian War. From 1999 to 2001, he served as the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Balkans.

Bildt has been considered persona non-grata in several countries for remarks he has made against various governments. These remarks included one made in Croatia, where he "lost the credibility necessary for the role of a peace mediator" by suggesting that the former President of Croatia, Franjo Tuđman, was as guilty of war crimes as the Krajina Serb leader Milan Martić. He was considered unwelcome in Russia after comparing their handling of the 2008 South Ossetia War to Nazi Germany under Hitler, and he was prevented from visiting Sri Lanka.