Hans Blix SVIV Swede of the Year
The organization for Swedes abroad, SVIV (Svenskar i Världen) awarded Dr. Hans Blix its Swede of the Year award ('Årets Svensk i Världen') at a luncheon in Stockholm on Aug. 18.
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Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Dr. Hans Blix and Ulf Dinkelspiel, chairman of SVIV. Photo: Kerstin Alm.
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The award was presented by HRH Crown Princess Victoria at a luncheon with 110 members and guests at the Djurgårdsbrunns Wärdshus after the annual meeting of SVIV.
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Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, seated with Hans Blix at the luncheon, SWEA Int'l president Åsa-Lena Lööf standing behind. Christina Moliteus of SWEA New York captured at the next table behind Blix's shoulder. Photo: Kerstin Alm.
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Dr. Hans Blix became known to the world through his most recent work as Executive Chairman, UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC). He was appointed to the position by the UN Secretary-General in January 2000 and took up his duties on 1 March 2000. In 2002, the commission began searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, ultimately finding none.
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Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden; Hans Blix; Karin Enbom-Palmqvist, Secretary General of SVIV; Ulf Dinkelspiel, chairman SVIV. Photo: Kerstin Alm.
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In the events leading up to the war on Iraq, UNMOVIC under Blix conducted 700 inspections in the country, and, in Blix's own words "in no case did we find weapons of mass destruction." Blix has in interviews accused U.S. President George W. Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair of acting not in bad faith, but with a severe lack of "critical thinking." Things may have been different in many parts of the world if the U.S. and British leaders at the time had listened more to the voices of UNMOVIC under Blix.
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A proud Hans Blix with a well deserved award from SVIV. Photo: Kerstin Alm.
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Hans Blix was born in 1928 in Uppsala, Sweden and studied at the University of Uppsala; then later at Columbia University, where he was also a research graduate; and at Cambridge University, where he received his Ph.D.. In 1960 he was appointed Associate Professor in International Law at the Stockholm University.
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Hans Blix with attending Carl Lööf, legislative assistant/ policy advisor to Member of Congress. Photo: Kerstin Alm.
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From 1963 to 1976, Blix was Head of Department at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and served as Legal Adviser on International Law. In 1976, he became Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, in charge of international development cooperation. He was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in October 1978.
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From 1961 until 1981, he was a member of Sweden’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly; and from 1962 to 1978, a member of the Swedish delegation to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
He served as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1981 to 1997.
Dr. Blix has written several books on subjects associated with international and constitutional law.
For More info on 'Svenskar i Världen' see www.sviv.se -
Photography by Kerstin Alm - www.mamarazzi.us.com
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