Estonian State Visit to Sweden

The Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, paid a three day state visit to Sweden between January 18th and 20th, 2011. King Carl Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Prince Carl-Philip participated in the visit as Princess Victoria is on a four day visit to the UAE.

18th January;
The President and his wife were met off M / S Victoria in Värtahamnen by Prince Carl-Philip. After the arrival, The King, The President, Queen Silvia and Mrs Ilves travelled to the Royal Palace in a motorcade. At the official welcoming ceremony, the King and President Ilves inspected the guard of honour and then went to lunch at Princess Sibylla’s bunk.

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The afternoon program began with a visit to the Estonian Freedom Monument in Djurgården. The monument was inaugurated by the King in 1994, and it recognizes the 50 years since more than 30,000 Estonians fled across the Baltic to Sweden. The president laid a wreath, made a speech and then some children from an Estonian school sang. In the afternoon, President Ilves visited the Swedish Parliament and Prime Minister.

The Queen and the President’s wife, Evelin, visited the Dandelion Children organisation and Röhnisch Sportswear. Dandelion Children is a non-profit organization that supports young people with parents who are abusive or are mentally ill. Dandelion Children was founded in 2005 by Denise Madsen and Therese Eriksson. Röhnisch Sportswear is a Swedish family business founded in 1945 by Hellmut Röhnisch, who came to Sweden from Estonia as a German refugee in the 1930s. The company is also part of their production in the Baltics.

In the evening, the visiting Estonian Presidential couple were treated to a state banquet at the Royal Palace. The Royal Family were represented by The King, The Queen, Prince Carl Philip, Princess Christina and her husband, General Tord Magnusson.

King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia greeted the 160 guests in the White Sea Room before dining in Karl XI’s Gallery. Guests included President Ilves’ official entourage, representatives of the diplomatic corps, parliament, government, departments and agencies and representatives of Swedish science, culture and business. The King accompanied Mrs. Evelin Ilves to the table. On his left was the former Speaker of Swedish Parliament, Mrs Birgitta Dahl. The Queen was brought to the table by President Ilves. On his right side was the current Speaker, Per Westerberg. Prince Carl Philip accompanied Mrs. Marika Streimann to the table, the wife of Ambassador to Estonia, Alar Streimann. Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson, was brought to the table by Per Westerberg. On his right was Marko Mihkelson, an Estonian politician.

19th January;
The second day of state visit began with a breakfast at the Trade Council. After breakfast, the President spoke at a seminar where the King and Minister for Trade, Ewa Björling, were present. They then went onto visit the Swedish power network, which is the headquarters for NordBalt. Which will unite the three Baltic states with the Nordic electricity system. Then it was back home for the President, as he visited the place he was born.

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While the King and President were elsewhere, the Queen and Mrs Ilves visited Saltå Mill in Järna. Evelin is very involved with issues regarding Public Health. Lunch was then served at Stockholm City Hall, where the two pairs met up again.

In the afternoon, President Ilves participated, together with Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, in a seminar entitled International Cyber Security – How Could Estonia and Sweden Contribute? For Queen Silvia and the First Lady, they visited Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge and the national center for severe obesity in children.

In the evening, a dinner and concert was held for The King and Queen, hosted by the President and his wife.

20th January;
The last day of the state visit began with a visit to an Estonian School in Stockholm. The school was founded in 1945 by Estonian refugees and today 170 students attend the school, which is located in Old Town. After the visit, President Ilves, together with Prince Carl-Philip and Mr Tolgfors visited the Nordic Battle Group in Enköping. It is part of the European Union Task Force, consisting of 2000 soldiers from Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Norway and Sweden.

In the afternoon, President Ilves visited Uppsala University Hospital where he was told, among other things, about play therapy.

Prince Carl Philip and President Ilves then went on to visit Ångström Laboratory, which conducts research in physics, chemistry, mathematics and materials science. Finally the president gave a lecture at Uppsala University on European policy.