Laila Freivalds
Laila Freivalds (born June 22, 1942) is a Swedish Social Democrat politician of Latvian origin. She was born in Riga during World War II, and escaped to Sweden with her family.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from Uppsala University in 1970 after which she served in the Swedish Court System until 1976. From 1976 and onwards she held senior posts at the Swedish Consumer Agency, before being appointed Minister for Justice in 1988. With the exception of the years 1991-1994, when her party was in opposition, she held that office until she resigned in 2000 over a private real estate controversy.
After the assassination of Anna Lindh in late 2003, Freivalds was offered and accepted to succeede her in the Government, as Minister for Foreign Affairs.
