The Ambassador of Sweden to Afghanistan (known formally as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) was the official representative of the government of Sweden to the president of Afghanistan and government of Afghanistan.
History Sweden and Afghanistan established diplomatic relations on 22 November 1940. On 30 June 1948, Rolf Sohlman was appointed as Sweden's first minister accredited to Afghanistan. On 6 June 1949, Sohlman, who was Sweden's ambassador to Moscow and also served as Sweden's minister to Afghanistan, presented his credentials to King Mohammad Zahir Shah.
In August 1960, the Swedish and Afghan governments reached an agreement that the heads of their respective missions would hold the rank of ambassador. From the same year, Sweden's ambassador in Tehran was accredited to Kabul. This accreditation ended with the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. Thereafter, diplomatic contact remained dormant until Afghanistan was covered through dual accreditation from Islamabad in 2002.
In 2008, Sweden established a diplomatic presence in the country by opening an embassy in Kabul. After the Taliban takeover in August 2021, embassy staff operated from Stockholm. As of 31 August 2024, Sweden's embassy in Kabul has been closed.
List of representatives NamePeriodResident / Non-residentTitleResident / Concurrent accreditationNotesPresented credentialsRefKingdom of Afghanistan (1926–1973)Rolf Sohlman30 June 1948 – 1960 Non-residentEnvoyResident in MoscowAppointed 30 June 1948, took office 24 May 1949.6 June 1949Dick Hichens-Bergström1960–1963 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in TehranEyvind Bratt1964–1967 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in TehranNils-Eric Ekblad1967–1970 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in TehranGustaf Bonde1970–1973 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in TehranRepublic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)Bengt Odhner1973–1978 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in TehranKaj Sundberg1978–1979 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in Tehran–1979–2002–No ambassador between 1979 and 2002.Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (2002–2004)Peter Tejler2002–2003 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in IslamabadAnn Wilkens2003–2004 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in IslamabadIslamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021)Ann Wilkens2004–2007 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in IslamabadAnna Karin Eneström2007–2008 Non-residentAmbassadorResident in IslamabadSvante Kilander8 May 2008 – 2010 ResidentAmbassadorAppointed 8 May 2008, took office 10 June 200821 September 2008Torbjörn Pettersson2010–2012 ResidentAmbassadorPeter Semneby2012–2015 ResidentAmbassadorAnders Sjöberg2015–2017 ResidentAmbassadorTobias Thyberg1 September 2017 – 2019 ResidentAmbassadorCaroline Vicini1 September 2019 – 2020 ResidentAmbassadorTorkel StiernlöfSeptember 2020 – 2021 ResidentAmbassadorIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan (2021–present)Torkel Stiernlöf2021–2022 ResidentAmbassadorJörgen LindströmSeptember 2022 – 2023 Non-residentSpecial envoyResident in StockholmJohan NdisiAugust 2023 – 2024 Non-residentSpecial envoyResident in Stockholm
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