Foto: Claudio Bresciani / SCANPIX

Sweden is today embarrassed by their Prime Minister’s poor ability to evaluate the importance of the memorial service in Madrid.

While prominent politicians and members of the European royalty travelled to Madrid to attend the memorial service for the people who died in the terror bombings, Sweden’s Prime Minister Göran Persson visited Swedish farms.

«This time there is no way to being neutral,» declared the Swedish paper Expressen in an article regarding Sweden’s lacking representation during the memorial service in Spain yesterday.

Under the title ‘Everybody was there - except Sweden,’ the Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson got a mouth full.

The paper states that «the ceremony was sent live on Spanish television and it was also fed to BBC World. Attending were Germany’s Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, President of France Jacques Chirac, Great Britain’s Tony Blair and US Secretary of State Colin Powell,» and the paper goes on naming other prominent persons before continuing:

«Sweden on the other hand sends its vice minister of finance. It was enough to send Gunnar Lund.»

Victoria remained at home too
While Norway sent both Foreign Minister Jan Petersen and Crown Prince Regent Haakon, Persson was moping around on a farm, and Crown Princess Victoria was visiting small businesses in Småland.

«It is disgraceful that Prince Charles, Crown Prince Fredrik, Crown Prince Haakon, Prince Albert of Monaco, and Prince Moulay Rashid of Morocco were not joined by Crown Princess Victoria,» the paper continued.

All equal
According to Expressen, the Swedish government answered that all the ministers were equal and that there does not exist a ranking of Swedish ministers.

«This is an obvious blunder,» said Anders Hellner at Utenrikspolitisk institutt (foreign policy institute) in Stockholm, Sweden, to the news bureau TT.

Hellner states that there are rules in diplomacy. The hosts maintain a list of who attends and what status they have. He said he thinks Sweden’s delegate will be viewed as a lack of respect for the Spain and the victims.

Sweden has previously been criticized for the representatives sent; last occasion was a year ago when Serbia’s assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was buried. Persson did not go that time either, nor did Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, but Sweden sent off its Minister of Health, Morgan Johansson.