Swedish PM visits Riga privately, comments on Putin image near Russian embassy

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited Riga this weekend not on an official trip, but privately, to see his daughter, who studies in the Latvian capital. He shared his impressions of the visit on social media.

Kristersson wrote that after intensive work weeks and limited time for family, he traveled to Riga over the weekend to visit his studying child. He noted that many Swedes have never visited their neighboring country and encouraged them to do so, describing Riga as a very pleasant city of interest beyond just architecture enthusiasts, mentioning the many restaurants and the Daugava river.

A note on the Putin image

The prime minister specifically pointed out a grotesque image of Vladimir Putin hanging on the facade of the Riga Museum of the History of Medicine, located right next to the Russian embassy on Ukrainas Neatkarības Street. In his view, Swedish, European and Russian history are all constantly present and alive in Riga.

Kristersson's post drew widespread response, with thousands of reactions and comments. Many Swedes agreed with the prime minister's kind words about Riga, calling it a beautiful and wonderful city, and praised his decision to visit Latvia.

Swedish media have not extensively covered the visit so far. An exception was the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, which reported on September 18 that Kristersson was in Latvia visiting his daughter and would therefore not attend planned parliamentary speaker consultations on Friday, as he had already met with the speaker the previous day.

Kristersson currently leads a caretaker government in Sweden until a new government is formed — in September he requested to be relieved of his post, but continues to carry out prime ministerial duties until the new government takes office.