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EU parliamentarian Erik Bergkvist (S) has died, reports SVT Västerbotten.
Erik Bergkvist was elected to the European Parliament after the last election, in 2019. Before taking a seat in the parliament, he was a regional councilor in Region Västerbotten, between 2008 and 2019.
It was in November of last year that Bergkvist told in a post on Facebook that he had suffered from lung cancer.
Andersson: Heavy news
Social Democrats party leader Magdalena Andersson comments on the announcement on Instagram.
“I have been hit by the heavy news that our MEP and my party colleague Erik Bergkvist has passed away,” writes Andersson and continues:
“Erik was an active social democrat with a burning commitment to politics. He worked for decades in regional politics at home in Västerbotten and since 2019 he was one of our five parliamentarians in the EU. My thoughts are with Erik’s family, friends and loved ones.”
Party secretary Tobias Baudin also says that his thoughts go out to Erik Bergkvist’s closest relatives.
– There is a great sadness in the heart. He has meant a lot to both northern Sweden and our party. Not least in his capacity as a regional councilor, but also his work in the parliament where he has really held onto northern Sweden issues all the way to Brussels, he tells the Altinget.
– He has really protected our party and been a real party friend. I think everyone can agree, that Erik always put the party first.
“Pragmatic and prestigeless”
Several EU parliamentarians have reacted to the news of Erik Bergkvist’s death at X.
“My thoughts go out to his family, relatives and the Social Democrats. Erik was a politician-colleague who was much appreciated. Pragmatic, curious and always with Sweden’s best interests at heart,” writes Tomas Tobé (M).
“I am touched by the sad news that my colleague in the European Parliament, Erik Bergkvist, passed away yesterday, after a period of illness.”
EU parliamentarian Sara Skyttedal writes that it is with sadness that she hears the news.
“He was the increasingly rare form of social democrat who pragmatically and without prestige tried to gather support for the good of Sweden”, she writes in her post.
Erik Bergkvist died on Tuesday. He lived to be 58 years old.
