List of ambassadors of Sweden to Lithuania

On 31 July 1903, the district of the Swedish consulate in Riga was expanded to include the Kovno Governorate.^[2] On 11 June 1920, the King in Council decided to establish a consulate in Kovno (Kaunas) for Lithuania, but the appointed consul was soon recalled, and duties were temporarily handled by the Dutch consular agent. Despite pressure from business representatives to activate the consulate, the Riksdag in 1922 rejected funding for it, citing the same reasons given for Riga and Reval (Tallinn).^[3]

On 28 September 1921, the King in Council formally recognized the Republic of Lithuania as an independent and sovereign state.^[4] The following year, on 9 June 1922, Sweden's minister in Riga and Tallinn, Envoy Torsten Undén, was also appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary in Kaunas.^[5]

A salaried consulate in Kaunas was established in 1924 to support Swedish trade in Lithuania. However, as commercial activity remained limited, the consulate was soon considered unnecessary, with the legation in Riga deemed sufficient to handle both trade and political matters. In 1928, the closure of the consulate was recommended, with responsibilities to be handled instead by an honorary consul.^[6] The recommendation was approved, and from that year an honorary consul assumed the role.^[7]

In January 1936, the question was raised of stationing a legation counselor permanently in Kaunas to serve as chargé d’affaires ad interim.^[8] On 30 April that year, Claes Westring was appointed legation counselor at the Swedish mission in Riga, Kaunas, and Tallinn, with his post based in Kaunas. In the absence of the envoy, he served as chargé d’affaires ad interim.^[9]

In September 1939, Sweden's envoy to Riga, Tallinn, and Kaunas, Birger Johansson, presented his letters of recall to the Lithuanian and Estonian presidents after the Swedish Riksdag approved the establishment of independent legations in Lithuania and Estonia. At the same time, Legation Counselor Claes Westring took office in Kaunas as chargé d’affaires en pied.^[10] On 15 June 1940, the Soviet Union began its occupation of the Baltic states. Sweden closed its diplomatic missions in Riga, Tallinn, and Kaunas on 24 August 1940, with a deadline of 25 August set for the withdrawal.^[11]

In 1989, Sweden opened branch offices in Riga and Tallinn, headed by consuls and subordinate to the Swedish Consulate General in Leningrad. Lithuania, however, opposed the idea of an office tied to Leningrad. Instead, in 1991 Sweden opened an information office in Vilnius, subordinate to Stockholm and headed by Consul Vilhelm Rappe.^[12]

On 27 August 1991, the Swedish government decided to reestablish diplomatic relations with Lithuania. The agreement entered into force the next day, 28 August.^[13] Sweden’s new embassy in Vilnius was inaugurated on 29 August 1991, in a ceremony led by Minister for International Development Cooperation Lena Hjelm-Wallén.^[14]

• Lithuania–Sweden relations