ANNA LINDH REMEMBERED AS ‘UNIQUE SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, GREAT FRIEND OF UN’, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

ANNA LINDH REMEMBERED AS ‘UNIQUE SOURCE OF INSPIRATION,

GREAT FRIEND OF UN’, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL

Following is the message by Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the memorial ceremony for Anna Lindh, former Foreign Minister of Sweden, in Stockholm today, 19 September, delivered by Hans Corell, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs:

You have gathered today to honour one of Sweden’s greatest and most beloved daughters.  For the United Nations, Anna Lindh was in many ways also a family member.  The senseless and incomprehensible act that took her life a week ago was met with an outpouring of grief and disbelief in the whole international community.  Today, the entire United Nations family stands with you -- with Anna’s husband, children, friends and loved ones, and with all the people and Government of Sweden.

We will always remember Anna as a unique source of inspiration.  Anna was a great Swede, a great European, and a great friend of the United Nations.  Not only was she instrumental in defining and developing Sweden’s role in Europe and in the United Nations; she also worked to strengthen the relationship between the United Nations and the European Union.  I wish there were more world citizens like her.

Anna was a dear friend to me personally.  An exceptional human being, Anna was able to reach out to every generation, across every national border, across every cultural boundary.  Her profound commitment to peace, justice, development and human rights embodied the very principles for which the United Nations stands.

Since her death, a sky of lead hangs over Sweden and the international community -- but Anna leaves a legacy of light which sets a standard for us all.

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