Published: 27 Oct 09 07:53 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/22894/20091027/
Amid discussions by EU foreign ministers about the need for strong leadership, Swedish EU commissioner Margot Wallström has called for the appointment of a woman to serve as EU president.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
With one arrest warrant being issued after four nights of rioting in Stockholm, Sweden's Integration Minister Erik Ullenhag said the rioters are a small minority, and did not represent a clash between young people in the suburbs and Swedish society. READ () »
A viral Facebook post about the terror of being targeted by stone-throwing youths during to the ongoing Stockholm riots has made firefighter Mattias Lassén into something of a Swedish folk hero, and The Local's pick for Swede of the Week. READ () »
Fresh from another near miss with a hulking behemoth of an elk, ex-Londoner Paul Connolly offers up a theory on how the prospect of imminent collisions with wayward wildlife affects the driving habits of Swedes up north. READ () »
The government and its main opposition have agreed to new rules governing performance requirements and profits at publicly funded, privately managed free schools. READ () »
Scientists at three Swedish universities have managed to muddle through the genetic code for fir trees, seven times larger than the human genome, with potential benefits for the Swedish forestry industry. READ () »
The Borås Zoo in western Sweden has welcomed a rare new elephant calf as African elephant Dudu gave birth on Wednesday after two years of pregnancy. READ () »
Wednesday night saw more burning cars, smashed windows, and stone throwing at police in at least 15 suburbs around Stockholm, as the fourth night of riots swept the Swedish capital. READ () »
Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet has signed up to offer free online courses, joining a network of 27 universities worldwide that reach nearly a million students. READ () »
| 23/05 | Account Executive/Office ManagerToolbox Marketing | Stockholm, STHM |
| 23/05 | Application Owner AXNet Entertainment | Stockholm |
| 23/05 | Area sales ManagerGemalto | Stockholm, STHM |
| 23/05 | E.ON are looking for a Regional Category Manager ElnätExperis Sverige | SKÅ |
| 23/05 | Integration Engineer at AditroAditro | Stockholm, STHM |
| 23/05 | Java Developer (Turku, Finland)Academic Work | Turku |
More news from Germany at thelocal.de
More news from France at thelocal.fr
More news from Norway at thelocal.no
More news from Switzerland at thelocal.ch
Register now for:
> Free use of noticeboard
> Special discounts
> Weekly news roundup
> Unlimited use of discuss
“Örngott”, “luttanpluttan” and “chokladglass” »
"Hej! How is your Swedish coming along? I have received many questions on the Facebook page and in my email lately and it seems like a good idea to post the answers here. Enjoy! Question 1 – “får inte” or “måste inte” Could you please clarify for me which is the most commonly used phrase in Swedish for..." READ »
Your comments about this article:
The comments below have not been moderated in advance and are not produced by The Local unless clearly stated. Readers are responsible for the content of their own comments. Comments that breach our terms and conditions will be removed.
Don't you know it is only discrimination if a woman does not get the job. If a woman gets the job ahead of better qualified men, then it is affirmative action.
Women like Wallström should be kept out of public office.
Wallström (or whatever her name is) is one of those that have made a career of this kind of cheap politics. They have done nothing other than mess the whole polity and law system up.
It doesn't matter whether the fish in question is actually qualified for or even wants the position only that I can make a career out of pushing the fishy agenda.
Maybe I should phone the UN...
I am a women and i say let the best candidate get it, women or men.
Maybe she is the one that complains the trafic sign ( for pedestrian crossing) looks like a man and should be changed into a female figure. Its just stupid!
If she doesn't have the best interest of the job at heart but just proposing this to balanced statistic, she shouldnt even hold a position, I hope her uncertain future will certainly not going to be in the service of public.
Tony Blair and his pet, Peter Mandelson should be deported from and permanetly banned from Europe. I would put both of them in uniform in Afghanisatan or Iraq, permanently and leave them there.
Margot Wallström would not make the grade required to be president. She is not up to the standard required.
Angela Merkel would make a good president for Europe. She is calm, very intelligent and thoughful. She knows how to work with the Russians and is very diplomatic.
Also Mary Robinson, would be a very good starter for president. Unlike all other Irish politicians, she is calm, uncoruptable, level headed, diplomatic, open minded and intelligent.
I actually can not think of a better first president for Europe than Mary Robinson. Mary Robinson's professionalism would create a level of expectation for the second president of Europe that would mean countries would have to rule out all lunatics, war mongers and religious extremists for president, such as Tony Blair, Berlusconi, etc.
OUt of all the candidates I can think of in Europe, male or female, Angela Merkel would would be second best and Mary Robinson would be the best of all for president of Europe.
Firstly I just want to say that I don't support the Labour party and never believed that Iraq had WMD's in 2003 or that the invasion was justified. I don' t believe that we are going to achieve a satisfactory situation in Afghanistan and it pains me to hear almost daily that another British soldier has been killed (along with all the other troops and the Afghans themselves).
But I do strongly object to accusations that if Blair was EU President he would somehow lead up eastwards to attack Russia and start World War 3 as one misguided and hysterical person has suggested, this is the 21st century and I am truly proud that we as Europeans no longer solve our problems that way. Oh and what's the problem with being religious, Blair has always made great effort not to discuss his religious beliefs in public. By all means express your views but please at least make them rational and based in fact.
Lets not forget that the British Conservative Party were also for the Iraq and Afghan wars so Blair was not alone in supporting it. I have a feeling that he knew if wasn't justified but that it was probably better to have UK forces there to try and stop the Yanks doing anything too stupid. As for Afghanistan what most people don't realise is that we are not just there to somehow bring truth and democracy to the Afghans but to largely prevent a destabilisation of Pakistan (a nuclear weapons state).
And yes Mary Robinson was a fantastic President of Ireland (I'm half Irish) but the position of EU president will wield a great deal of influence and power so I think we probably need someone with experience of high political office such as an ex prime minister and that would sadly rule Mary out.
Personally I would like the EU President to be someone from a smaller country in the same way that the UN Secretary General largely hails from a non first world country. Having said that it should be the best person for the job at the time.
I wake up every morning and praise the Lord that Italy has no nuclear weapons, can you imagine that man with his finger on the button. I wouldn't trust him with a TV remote control or my 15 year old daughter (I don't technically have a daughter but you know what I mean).
Mind you I can't imagine an Italian pressing the launch button, it's too difficult to do that after all with your hands raised in surrender... ;)
Seriously, whatever happened to the best qualified individual should hold a job? No wonder we get such incompetent poiticians. ANY reason for giving someone a position that is not based solely on qualifications is bordering on the ridiculous.
There are many reasons for women being in the minority in politics as well as in other areas (and yes, discrimination is one of them), however some areas/sectors just have far fewer women interested or getting involved.
Affirmative action in my opinion only serves to discriminate and waste our tax money on paying salaries to incompetents because "some quota" needs to be filled.
My two cents worth...
People like this Wallstrom irritate me, its like the feminists in America that were saying that every woman should vote for Hillary... or you should be ashamed of yourself.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stopblair/signatures.html.How
A lot of people oppose him, for good reason. He is a war monger.
As an Irish woman, I would just like to say "Anyone but Tony Blair or Bertie Ahern or a token female." I thought we had progressed beyond the type of comment made by Ms Wahlstrom. Let the best qualified PERSON get the job.