Laila Freivalds

There is a lot of speculation about Laila Friedvalds' sexuality. It's alleged that she is gay, but nothing can be said with certainty as she has not come out in open regarding this.

On December 26, 2004, Freivalds was reported to have attended the theater despite the news report that very day of the Asian tsunami disaster, in which upwards of 500 Swedish nationals were killed. However, Freivalds has claimed that because of the holiday, she did not watch the news on that day and was unaware of the events.

While Freivalds is largely remembered for the scandals connected with her service, much of her political work focused on fair immigration policies and national minority programs; her interest in immigration may be related to her own immigration from Latvia.

Laila Ligita Freivalds was born on 22 June 1942 in Riga, Reichskommisariat Ostland, during the Second World War. Together with her parents, she escaped the country during wartime, fleeing to Sweden.

Freivalds grew up as a Swedish national, completing primary and secondary school within the country.

In 1970, Freivalds graduated from Uppsala University School of Law with a Candidate of Law (“juris kandidat”) degree.

Upon graduation, she began working in the Swedish Court System in various capacities; she worked here till 1976.

In 1976, she landed her first senior post within the Swedish Consumer Agency, where she continued to hold leadership positions for the following 12 years.

In 1988, Freivalds was appointed as the Minister for Justice, a post that she held, with one interruption, until 2000.

Between 1991 and 1994, during the years that her party was in the opposition, she temporarily ceded her appointment.

During her tenure as foreign minister, she stressed on Sweden’s integration policy that aimed at giving equal rights and opportunities for everyone, irrespective of their ethnic and cultural background. She took special efforts to prevent social exclusion of immigrants.