Henrik Liljegren

Henrik Liljegren was born in Tallinn and trained in law at Stockholm. He entered the foreign ministry in 1960, worked in Tokyo and Berlin, and joined Sweden's OECD delegation in Paris. Later appointments included ambassadorships in Ankara, East Berlin, and Brussels before Washington in 1993. ¹

Baltic security was a central concern during his American service. In a later interview he recalled following the negotiations that brought the withdrawal of Russian troops in 1994, crediting the outcome to coordinated efforts by American, Swedish, Russian, and Baltic leaders. His memoir From Tallinn to Turkey treated these negotiations as a major episode of his diplomatic career. ²

After leaving government service, Liljegren continued writing and speaking about European security as a lifetime director of the Atlantic Council. In a 2015 interview, after Russia's intervention in Ukraine, he argued for stronger support to Ukraine and a sustained American military presence in Europe. ²