Ewa Helena Björling (born 3 May 1961) is a Swedish politician and a member of the

Moderate Party The Moderate Party ( , , M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative* * * * * List of political parties in Sweden, political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free ma ...

. She served as Minister for Foreign Trade from 2007 to 2014 and as Minister for Nordic Cooperation from 2010 to 2014 in the

Swedish Government The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden () is the national cabinet of Sweden, and the country's executive authority. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and their cabinet ministers (). The Government is responsible for its actions ...

. She was a member of the

Swedish Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportionally and serving, since 1994, f ...

for Stockholm County from 2002 to 2014. On 16 October 2014, she submitted her resignation from the

Riksdag The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the parliamentary sovereignty, supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportional rep ...

and announced that she will retire from politics.

Prior career

Ewa Björling is a dentist,

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

and a

docent The term "docent" is derived from the Latin word , which is the third-person plural present active indicative of ('to teach, to lecture'). Becoming a docent is often referred to as habilitation or doctor of science and is an academic qualifi ...

virology Virology is the Scientific method, scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host (biology), ...

. Prior to her election to the

Swedish parliament The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportionally and serving, since 1994, f ...

in 2002, she worked as a lecturer at

Karolinska Institutet The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally. ...

in Stockholm. She was also a member of the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

Ekerö Municipality Ekerö Municipality () is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in the Provinces of Sweden, province of Uppland in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. The name derives from the name of the main island within the municipality whose name is ...

from 1999 to 2006, and served as its chairman from 2005 to 2006. She was elected a member of parliament in 2002 and served in the parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs. She was also a substitute in the Committee on the Constitution, the Committee on Education and the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs. She was a member of the board of the

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Sweden's official development assistance to developing coun ...

from 2003 to 2007. She was also chairman of the Swedish National Council for Coordination of Efforts Against

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

in 2007, and Europe's representative in the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

's working group on HIV/AIDS. Björling has promoted the use of contraception in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, a country which maintains solid links to the Roman

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Career as Minister for Foreign Trade

In November 2012 Björling traveled with two Swedish trade delegations to discuss increasing bi-lateral trade between Sweden and war-torn country of

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, despite an existing EU

arms embargo An arms embargo is a restriction or a set of sanctions that applies either solely to weaponry or also to "dual-use technology." An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: * to signal disapproval of the behavior of a certain actor * to maintain ...

against Myanmar.Björling: Burmavapen hade exporterats till Indien, Publicerat: torsdag 13 December kl 17:23, Sverige Radio, http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=5380204 Björling was later questioned by the

Swedish Parliament The Riksdag ( , ; also or , ) is the parliament and the supreme decision-making body of the Kingdom of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral parliament with 349 members (), elected proportionally and serving, since 1994, f ...

regarding the discovery of Swedish made

Carl Gustav recoilless rifle The Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle (, named after '' Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori'', which initially produced it) is a Swedish-developed caliber shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, initially developed by the Royal Swedish Army Mate ...

s found in Myanmar in December 2012. Following the 2010 general election, Björling also took office as Minister for Nordic Cooperation. She made mining one of the areas of Nordic cooperation.Sweden's Minister for Nordic Coordination Ewa Björling has a soft spot for mines, http://www.nordiclabourjournal.org/artikler/portrett/portrait-2011/article.2011-10-06.4068239192/

Awards

In 2006 Björling was awarded with the "Jerusalem Prize" from the Zionist Federation in Sweden. The award is given to persons who has shown "extraordinary support for Israel,

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

Personal life

Ewa Björling is married and has two children. She lives on the island of

Ekerö Ekerö is a locality (urban area) and the seat of Ekerö Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 11,524 inhabitants in 2017. It is also an alternative name of the island Ekerön, on which the Ekerö urban area is situated. Sports The ...

west of Stockholm.

References

External links

Frihandelsministern
blog
Ewa Björling
at the

Government Offices of Sweden The Government Offices (, RK), formerly known as the Royal Chancery () before 1975, is a government agency in Sweden responsible for supporting the government in governing the country and implementing its policies. The Government Offices comprise ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorling, Ewa 1961 births Living people Swedish dentists Swedish virologists Academic staff of the Karolinska Institute Members of the Riksdag from the Moderate Party Ministers for trade of Sweden Women members of the Riksdag Women government ministers of Sweden Members of the Riksdag 2002–2006 Swedish women academics 21st-century Swedish women politicians Ministers for Nordic cooperation of Sweden