Editing Göran Persson (section)

== Foreign policy ==
[[File:Vladimir Putin 23 March 2001-2.jpg|thumb|Persson meeting with Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] in [[Stockholm]], Sweden, 23 March 2001.]]
[[Image:Bush Persson Prodi.jpg|thumb|Göran Persson (center) with U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] and President of the European Commission [[Romano Prodi]] at [[Gunnebo Slott]] near [[Gothenburg]], Sweden, 14 June 2001.]]

Regarding Sweden's membership in the [[European Union]], Persson has been an advocate of an expanded Swedish role in the organization. During Sweden's [[Presidency of the Council of the European Union|presidency of the EU]] in the first half of 2001, Persson with assistance from foreign minister [[Anna Lindh]] presided over the organization and contributed towards the enlargement which took place in 2004.<ref>[http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/01/01/sweden.eu/index.html Sweden takes EU helm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030221918/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/01/01/sweden.eu/index.html |date=2007-10-30 }} {{in lang|en}}, [[CNN]], 1 January 2001.</ref><ref>[http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/01/02/sweden.eu/index.html Swedes offer EU breath of fresh air] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028114525/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/01/02/sweden.eu/index.html |date=2007-10-28 }} {{in lang|en}}, [[CNN]], 2 January 2001.</ref> He advocated for a Swedish entry into the [[Economic and Monetary Union]] (EMU), however in a 2003 referendum a majority of Swedes voted against joining the EMU.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/09/14/sweden.euro/index.html Sweden rejects euro currency] {{in lang|en}}, [[CNN]], 14 September 2003.</ref><ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/09/15/sweden.euro/index.html Sweden: Euro fallout feared] {{in lang|en}}, [[CNN]], 15 September 2003.</ref>

=== ITF: Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research ===
In 1998, Prime Minister Persson initiated international talks on the establishment of an inter-governmental organisation for Holocaust education, which resulted in the founding of the [[Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research]] (ITF). The ITF now has 27 Member States.
He had already raised the issue of Holocaust education within the Swedish Parliament, initiating a national information campaign with the aim for 'facts about the Holocaust to form the platform for a discussion on democracy, tolerance and the fact that every human was of equal value.'<ref>'Congratulatory remarks by former Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson',''Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research: Ten Year Anniversary Book'', 2009, p. 8)</ref> The Campaign was entitled Living History, or Levande Historia.