Crown Princess Victoria in Uppsala on the 60th anniversary of the death of Folke Bernadotte

Uppsala county council, in collaboration with the Folke Bernadotte Academy, Uppsala University and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, had organised a seminar on mediation and mediators to commemorate the anniversary. Peter Wallensteen, professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, was the moderator, and speakers included former Minister for Foreign Affairs Jan Eliasson, who mediated during the Darfur conflict, and Jan Egeland, the UN´s former Undersecretary-General and mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the afternoon, a TV link was set up between Uppsala Castle and Jerusalem and the memorial ceremony for Folke Bernadotte that was taking place there. Later The Crown Princess attended a wreath-laying at Folke Bernadotte´s memorial plaque in Uppsala.

The white buses

Folke Bernadotte (1895—1948) is considered to be one of the first to promote international peace efforts. As deputy chairman of the Swedish Red Cross, he led the white bus expeditions during the final stages of World War II. The initiative rescued around 30,000 prisoners from the German concentration camps. Some of the people who were rescued by the white buses were present among the hundred or so foreign and Swedish guests at the seminar at Uppsala Castle.