When the new Swedish Government was announced earlier today, it became clear that Isabella Lövin will leave the European Parliament and her post as Vice-Chair in the Fisheries Committee to become Minister for International Development Coordination.
Many will miss the clear language and firm engagement with her issues that Isabella Lövin brought to the European Parliament and particularly its Committee on Fisheries. She had just been reelected for a second term earlier this year, and got more votes than any of the other Swedish Greens candidates in the elections.
She now leaves her post as Vice-Chair in the Fisheries Committee and her other engagements to become one of the Ministers in the new Swedish Government announced earlier today. In the Foreign Affairs Ministry, she will be Minister for International Development Cooperation, working closely with Margot Wallström from the Social Democrats – another Swedish politician with a background in EU politics.
Her new post will enable her to continue the earlier engagement with fisheries access agreements in Africa, and work more with a broader scope of questions such as human rights, democracy and livelihoods issues. She was quoted as saying in the Swedish news that the step from fisheries issues to development cooperation is not as great as it may seem, but feels like a continuation of her earlier work in the European Parliament.
Lövin will be replaced in the European Parliament by Linnea Engström – another female politician from the Swedish Green Party. Her election campaign earlier this spring focused on issues such as energy infrastructure, climate, equality (women’s as well as LGBT rights) and human rights. According to Linnea, Isabella “have left big shoes to fill” but she feels she has strong support from her Party behind her.