Embassy of the United States Stockholm, Sweden

Deputy Secretary Burns, Ladies and Gentlemen:  I am profoundly grateful for this important opportunity to further the historic friendship between America and Sweden.

I want to thank both President Obama and Secretary Clinton for entrusting me with this important mission.

I want to thank the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for confirming me, and its Chairman Senator John Kerry and Ranking Member Senator Richard Lugar, for their leadership.  They personify bipartisanship in foreign policy, and our country is better for it.

Being part of Assistant Secretary of State Phil Gordon's able EUR team is a source of special satisfaction to me.  I've already learned how able desk officers Peter D'Amico and Chris Dostal are through my preparations for this assignment, and how dependent I will be on them.

I am humbled by the talent we have at US Embassy Stockholm, and I can't wait to join Chargé d'Affaires Bill Stewart and Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Laura Kirkconnell at Post.  I want to welcome here today former US Ambassadors to Sweden Tom Siebert and Mike Wood.  Thank you Gentlemen for giving me your time and valuable advice.

I want to recognize the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Sweden to Washington, Jonas Hafstrom.  Ambassador, 

Det är en stor glädje och ära, att se den svenska närvaron här idag.

Many of my friends and business associates are here.  Especially to my friends from McGuireWoods:  Thank you all -- I am deeply grateful to have been part of such a terrific team.

My family is here, and I am thrilled my wife Natalia and daughter Aurora will be in Sweden with me.

Natalia is a true partner and a vital source of encouragement, creativity and joy.  And we both can not wait to show our daughter, Aurora, her namesake, the "Aurora Borealis."

I want to thank my parents for everything they have given me:  My Dad shared with my brother, sister and me a lifetime of diplomacy and strategy.  My Mother introduced us to nature and the arts.  Both taught us the value of hard work.  Thank you both for your endless commitment.

I also want to salute my Brother and Sister Ian and Mika, who are here today.  Ian and I played on the same hockey team growing up in New Jersey, and I distinctly remember that if I were knocked down, my bigger and older brother would always return the favor - so as I plan to join US Embassy Stockholm's hockey team, let that be a warning.....

And Mika is here today - Mika taught me the tricks of a good TV appearance - I am grateful for that, and much, much more.

My wife and I are both first generation Americans, and our families are all originally from Central Europe.

When Natalia's father, Krzysztof Lopatniuk, who is here today, left Poland, his first stop was in fact in Malmo, Sweden, where he cleaned shipping containers for an hourly wage.  He is now a successful businessman in Chicago, where his family has lived the American dream.  And Chicago will be a focus of our Arts in Embassy program.

Going to Sweden at this time is a magnificent challenge.

Sweden is a very important partner in the turbulent world in which we now live.  For example, Sweden has joined us in Afghanistan and Libya and continues to lead in promoting the integration of the Balkans into the EU.

Not only in terms of manpower and resources, but also in terms of moral authority, Sweden is a special partner in the challenges we face.

The United States and Sweden share an important partnership and commitment to green energy.  I will strive to build on the close cooperation our Embassy has forged with Sweden on alternative energy and environmental sustainability.

This year Sweden took over the rotating Chairmanship of the Arctic Council.  Since the US is a Member of that Council, I can't wait to work with Sweden to advance our common goals of protecting the environment and conserving the Arctic's biological resources while promoting economic cooperation.

Let me close with a personal story:  My Grandfather, Tadeusz Brzezinski, served as Poland's consul general in Leipzig, Germany from 1931 to 1935.  As Consul General, he provided Polish passports to Jews, even if they were not Polish citizens, so they could be freed from imprisonment or leave Nazi Germany.  His story is part of what informs my belief that basic values are a universal imperative.

In 2012, Sweden will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Raoul Wallenberg, a diplomat whose efforts to save Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust clearly demonstrate the importance of not being indifferent.  He paid with his life for that commitment.  It will be my mission to advance the American - Swedish relationship in a way that honors that legacy.

Thank you.