Memorial Service for Honorable Anna Lindh, Foreign Minister of Sweden

This new century, still in its infancy, has already seen far too many days of sorrow. How strange and terribly sad that this most recent tragedy, the death of one of Europe’s brightest stars and warmest lights, would happen on the particular day that it did. September 11^th will be forever dark in the memory of America and now it must dim the heart of Sweden, too.

I join you here today to represent my country and my colleague and friend, Colin Powell, with terrible regret for the life that was lost but also with tremendous respect for the life that was lived. Indeed, I am honored to be among you to remember a great woman and a great citizen of the world, Anna Lindh. Secretary Powell very much wanted to be here in person today to honor her memory, just as he wanted to be with the people of Sweden on Friday in Stockholm. Indeed, only God and the United Nations could have stopped him. I think, however, that Minister Lindh would have tolerated God’s intervention and fully approved of the UN’s.

Indeed, Anna Lindh represented the best of Sweden, of a long and legendary record of diplomacy, and there was much to admire about the ideals she personified. According to Secretary Powell, it was her uncommon passion for those ideals, for peace and human dignity, that made Anna so special as a colleague and a friend.

The poet John Donne once wrote that; “Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind.” There can be no question that Anna Lindh lived to be involved in mankind and that today, we are all diminished by her death. But I believe that the very best memorial we can dedicate to Minister Lindh is to carry on her unfinished work: to move forward in a spirit of cooperation as we face the great, common challenges of our time; to work toward a Europe that is whole, free and at peace, and trans-Atlantic links that are vital and strong. To stand with a fiery passion for the human rights of all mankind and to start that passion with our own families, by caring deeply for our children, the way Anna Lindh always did.

The great Swedish writer, Astrid Lindgren, wrote a story of two young boys – about the age of Anna’s two sons – who are forced too early to confront death. “How can things be so terrible,” a dying boy asks his brother. “How can things be so terrible that some people have to die, when they’re not even ten years old?” “I don’t think it’s that terrible,” the brother responds. “I think you’ll have a marvelous time…It’s only your shell that lies there – you yourself fly away somewhere quite different.” It is comforting to think of Anna, her tremendous spirit liberated from this little world, flying away to someplace quite different, and always, always having a marvelous time.

On behalf of Secretary Powell, I wish to say to the family of Anna Lindh, to her colleagues in the Swedish government, and to all the people of Sweden: we share your grief. The world shares your loss. And we will all do our best to honor her memory by keeping her legacy alive in this new century.