Leni Björklund, Swedish politician, 28th Swedish Minister of Defence for Sweden
Leni Christina Elisabeth Björklund (born 5 July 1944) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician. She served as Minister for Defence from 2002 to 2006.
Leni Björklund grew up in Örebro. She graduated from Uppsala University with a B.A. As a local politician, Björklund was a Commissioner in the 1970s and 1980s, first in Järfälla Municipality north of Stockholm 1977–1979, and later in Stockholm County Council 1980–1989. She went on to work as
Managing Director for the Planning and Rationalisation Institute for the Health and Social Services.
When Prime Minister Göran Persson appointed her, on 21 October 2002, she was the secretary-general of the Church of Sweden, a position she had held since 1999. Björklund was Sweden's first female Minister for Defence.
As a female, she has not done any national service in the military of Sweden, and she was the first Minister of Defence to not have done so.
Leni Björklund holds an honorary doctorate degree from Karolinska Institutet, a Stockholm medical university.
Björklund has also been reported to Konstitutionsutskottet several times. In November 2005, she was reported for initiating military co-operation with the Islamist dictatorship of Saudi Arabia.
1944Jul, 5
Leni Björklund
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- 10Apr
Auschwitz concentration camp
Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from Birkenau death camp. - 13Apr
Soviet Union
Diplomatic relations between New Zealand and the Soviet Union are established. - 26Jun
RAF
World War II: San Marino, a neutral state, is mistakenly bombed by the RAF based on faulty information, leading to 35 civilian deaths. - 26Aug
Charles de Gaulle
World War II: Charles de Gaulle enters Paris. - 31Dec
Nazi Germany
World War II: Hungary declares war on Nazi Germany.