List of ambassadors of Sweden to Saudi Arabia

Ambassador of Sweden to Saudi Arabia
Lesser coat of arms of the Kingdom of Sweden
Incumbent Petra Menander since September 2022
Ministry for Foreign Affairs Swedish Embassy, Riyadh
Style	His or Her Excellency (formal) Mr. or Madam Ambassador (informal)
Reports to	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Residence	3743 Tayma Street, Diplomatic Quarter[a]
Seat	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Appointer	Government of Sweden
Term length	No fixed term
Inaugural holder	Brynolf Eng
Formation	1957
Website	Swedish Embassy, Riyadh

The Ambassador of Sweden to Sudia Arabia (known formally as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is the official representative of the government of Sweden to the monarch and government of Saudi Arabia. The ambassador has a dual accreditation to Muscat (Oman) and to Sanaa (Yemen).

History

Sweden's first ambassador accredited to Saudi Arabia was Brynolf Eng, who was the Swedish envoy in Cairo starting in 1957.^[2] Later, the Swedish ambassador in Beirut, Lebanon, was accredited to Saudi Arabia.

At the beginning of 1967, a permanent representation was established in Saudi Arabia's commercial center, Jeddah, under the leadership of a chargé d'affaires ad interim. The office was subordinate to the Swedish ambassador in Beirut, Lebanon.^[3]

In December 1973, Bengt Rösiö was appointed as Sweden's first resident ambassador in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.^[4]

Since 1974, Sweden's ambassador to Saudi Arabia has been concurrently accredited to neighboring countries: Kuwait (1974–1977, 2001–2016), Oman (1974–present), Qatar (1974–1977), United Arab Emirates (1974–1977), and Yemen^[b] (1974–present).

List of representatives

Name	Period	Title	Notes	Presented credentials	Ref
Brynolf Eng	1957–1960	Envoy	Resident in Cairo.		[5]
Gösta Brunnström	1960–1965	Ambassador	Resident in Beirut.		[6]
Claës Ivar Wollin	1965–1969	Ambassador	Resident in Beirut.		[7]
Vidar Hellners	1967–1970	Chargé d'affaires ad interim[c]			[8]
Åke Jonsson	1969–1974	Ambassador	Resident in Beirut.		[9]
Karl-Vilhelm Wöhler	1970–1974	Chargé d'affaires ad interim[d]			[10][11]
Bengt Rösiö	1974–1977	Ambassador	Also accredited in Abu Dhabi, Doha, Kuwait City, Manama, Muscat, and Sanaa.		[13]
Carl-Gustaf Bielke	1977–1980	Ambassador	Also accredited in Muscat and Sanaa.		[14]
Fredrik Bergenstråhle	1980–1984	Ambassador	Also accredited in Muscat and Sanaa.		[15]
Frank Belfrage	1984–1987	Ambassador	Also accredited in Muscat and Sanaa.		[16]
Lennart Alvin	1987–1991	Ambassador	Also accredited in Muscat and Sanaa.		[17]
Steen Hohwü-Christensen	1991–1996	Ambassador	Also accredited in Muscat and Sanaa.		[18]
Lave Johnsson	1996–2000	Ambassador	Also accredited in Muscat and Sanaa (until 1999[e]).		[19]
Anders Bengtcén	2000–2001	Chargé d'affaires			[21]
Åke Karlsson	2001–2006	Ambassador	Also accredited in Kuwait City, Muscat, and Sanaa (from 2003).		[22]
Jan Thesleff	2006–2011	Ambassador	Also accredited in Kuwait City, Muscat, and Sanaa.		[23]
Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt	September 2011 – August 2016	Ambassador	Also accredited in Kuwait City, Muscat, and Sanaa.		[24][25]
Jan Knutsson	September 2016 – 2019	Ambassador	Also accredited in Muscat and Sanaa.		[26]
Niclas Trouvé	1 September 2019 – 2022	Ambassador	Also accredited in Muscat and Sanaa.	23 October 2019.	[27]
Petra Menander	September 2022 – present	Ambassador	Also accredited in Muscat and Sanaa.		[28]

See also

• List of ambassadors of Saudi Arabia to Sweden

Footnotes

1. The ambassador's residence is at the same location as the chancery.^[1]
2. Yemen Arab Republic (1974–1990) and Republic of Yemen (1990–present).
3. Held the diplomatic rank of embassy counsellor.
4. Sköldenberg (1974), p. 382 states embassy counsellor,^[10] Uddling & Paabo (1992), p. 1212 states chargé d'affaires,^[11] and Svenska Dagbladet reports that he was appointed first embassy secretary and chargé d'affaires ad interim.^[12]
5. In the 2000 edition of the Sveriges statskalender [sv], Lave Johnsson [sv] is listed as ambassador to Yemen.^[19] The 2003 edition lists Bengt Sparre [sv] as ambassador to Yemen from 1999.^[20]

References

1. "Riyadh, Saudiarabien. Ambassadanläggning" [Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Embassy complex] (in Swedish). National Property Board of Sweden. 3 October 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
2. "Utnämningar inom UD" [Foreign Ministry appoitments]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 28 June 1957. p. 4A. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
3. "Utrikes: Ny ambassad i Zambia" [Foreign Affairs: New embassy in Zambia]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 12 January 1967. p. 18. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
4. "Ambassadör i Jeddah" [Ambassador in Jeddah]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 21 December 1973. p. 21. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
5. Harnesk, Paul, ed. (1962). Vem är vem? [Who's Who?] (in Swedish). Vol. 1, Stor–Stockholm (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Vem är vem bokförlag. p. 340. SELIBR 53509.
6. Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1977 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1977] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. 1976. p. 156. ISBN 91-1-766022-X. SELIBR 3681523.
7. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1969). Sveriges statskalender 1969 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Fritzes offentliga publikationer. p. 344. SELIBR 3682754.
8. Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 467. ISBN 91-1-914072-X. SELIBR 8261513.
9. Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 568. ISBN 91-1-914072-X. SELIBR 8261513.
10. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1974). Sveriges statskalender 1974 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Allmänna. p. 382. ISBN 91-38-01839-X.
11. Uddling, Hans; Paabo, Katrin, eds. (1992). Vem är det: svensk biografisk handbok. 1993 [Who is it: Swedish biographical handbook. 1993] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedt. p. 1212. ISBN 91-1-914072-X. SELIBR 8261513.
12. "Nya ambassadråd" [New embassy counsellors]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). 15 August 1970. p. 11. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
13. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1977). Sveriges statskalender 1977 (PDF) (in Swedish). Uppsala: Liber/Allmänna. pp. 431–432, 444, 449–450, 458. ISBN 91-38-03338-0. SELIBR 3682758.
14. Sköldenberg, Bengt, ed. (1980). Sveriges statskalender 1980 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber. pp. 348, 350, 356. ISBN 91-38-05350-0. SELIBR 33682761.
15. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1984). Sveriges statskalender 1984 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Liber. pp. 358, 360, 366. ISBN 91-38-90400-4. SELIBR 3682782.
16. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1987). Sveriges statskalender 1987 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Allmänna. pp. 362, 364, 370. ISBN 91-38-09751-6. SELIBR 3682766.
17. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (1991). Sveriges statskalender 1991 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Allmänna. pp. 358, 360, 366. ISBN 9138125277. SELIBR 3682770.
18. Almqvist, Gerd, ed. (1996). Sveriges statskalender 1996 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 191, 193, 199. ISBN 9138350211. SELIBR 3682781.
19. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (2000). Sveriges statskalender 2000 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. pp. 186, 188, 194. ISBN 91-38-31692-7. SELIBR 8261600.
20. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (2003). Sveriges statskalender 2003 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 190. ISBN 91-38-32045-2. SELIBR 8869747.
21. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (2001). Sveriges statskalender 2001 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Fritzes. p. 190. ISBN 9138318385. SELIBR 8261601.
22. Spiegelberg, Christina, ed. (2006). Sveriges statskalender 2006 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik AB/Fritzes. pp. 182, 185, 189, 192. ISBN 91-38-32230-7. SELIBR 10156707.
23. Sveriges statskalender 2010 (PDF) (in Swedish). Stockholm: Norstedts Juridik AB/Fritzes. 2010. pp. 184, 188, 193, 195. ISBN 978-91-38-32520-9. SELIBR 11846164.
24. "Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt". LinkedIn. Retrieved 4 February 2025. Ambassador of Sweden to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman & Yemen
    Embassy of Sweden to KSA
    sep. 2011–aug. 2016 5 years
25. "Join us next week on Friday for a lecture with Dag Juhlin-Dannfelt..." Association of Foreign Affairs in Lund. 17 November 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2025 – via Instagram. He has previously served as an Ambassador in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen...
26. • Saudi Arabia: "Ny ambassadör i Saudiarabien" [New ambassador in Saudi Arabia] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
    • Oman: "Alawi receives credentials of ambassadors to Oman". Times of Oman. Muscat. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
    • Yemen: "Yemeni FM Receives Swedish Ambassador". Riyadh. Saudi Press Agency. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2025. ...met here today with the Swedish Ambassador to Yemen Jan Knutsson
27. • Saudi Arabia: "Ny ambassadör i Saudiarabien" [New ambassador in Saudi Arabia] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
    • Saudi Arabia (credentials): "King receives credentials of envoys". Saudi Gazette. Riyadh. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
    • Oman: "Sweden, Mexico ambassadors to Oman present credentials copies". Oman Daily Observer. Muscat. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
    • Yemen: "Yemeni President Meets with Swedish Foreign Minister". Riyadh. Saudi Press Agency. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2025. ...who was accompanied by the Swedish Ambassador to Yemen Niclas Trouvé
28. • Saudi Arabia: "Petra Menander ny ambassadör i Saudiarabien" [Petra Menander new ambassador in Saudi Arabia] (Press release) (in Swedish). Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
    • Oman: "HM The Sultan Receives Ambassadors' Credentials". Muscat. Oman News Agency. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
    • Yemen: "Foreign Minister receives Swedish Ambassador to Yemen". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Saba News Agency. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2025.

External links

• Embassy of Sweden, Riyadh (in Swedish and English)