Romina Pourmokhtari

Romina Pourmokhtari (born 12 November 1995) is a Swedish politician for the Liberals. She has served as the Minister for the Environment since 2022 in the Kristersson Cabinet. She has also been a member of the Riksdag for Stockholm Municipality since 2022. She is the youngest-ever minister of a cabinet in Sweden, having ascended to her position at the age of 26.
Political career
Liberal Youth of Sweden (2019–2022)
Pourmokhtari became the president of the Liberal Youth of Sweden in 2019.
In June 2021, she and the two vice-chairs of the Liberal Youth published an article in Expressen calling for the Liberal Party to "adopt red lines" against the far-right Sweden Democrats, saying that the Sweden Democrats' "vision of society and of people is infinitely more dangerous than any challenge Sweden faces today," but that after the Liberal Party members had voted to consider going into government with SD, the party should not compromise on the right to asylum, the independence of universities, media, cultural institutions, and the justice system, protection for women, LBGT+ people, and minority groups, and Sweden's role in global affairs, including international aid and the European Union.
On 14 September 2022, she announced that she would step down as president at the upcoming congress in November later that year.
Minister for the Environment (2022–present)
Following the 2022 Swedish general election in September 2022, Pourmokhtari was elected to the Riksdag for Stockholm Municipality. Immediately following the election, she pledged to vote against the formation of any government that included the Sweden Democrats. She later deleted Tweets where she criticized the Sweden Democrats after joining a coalition government with the party.
In October 2022, she was named Minister for the Environment in the Kristersson Cabinet, with the Liberal Party taking part in the Tidö Agreement with the Moderates, the Christian Democrats, and the Sweden Democrats. As part of the agreement, the Ministry of the Environment was downgraded from a full ministry to a department of the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, however, Pourmokhtari told media that there was "absolutely no drop in ambitions" for the government's environmental policy. Later that month, she was named "Sweden's most powerful politician under 30" by Expressen.
In June 2023, she faced criticism after the government's National Climate Conference featured no scientists, environmental NGOs, nor youth representatives on any of its panels. In response to the criticism, she stated that the goal of the conference was to ask business leaders about obstacles they faced to adopt more climate measures and that it would be inappropriate for the government to meet with civil disobedience groups like Extinction Rebellion.
Personal life
Pourmokhtari grew up in Sundbyberg. Her father is a political refugee from Iran, and it was through him that Romina became interested in politics. According to Pourmokhtari, her parents fled from the country "when freedom was taken from them." During her interview with the Swedish newspaper NU – Det liberala Nyhetsmagasinet, she stated that her first strong political memory was during the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests.
References
1995 births
Living people
21st-century Swedish women politicians
Members of the Riksdag from the Liberals (Sweden)
Members of the Riksdag 2022–2026
Swedish Ministers for the Environment
Swedish politicians of Iranian descent
Women members of the Riksdag
Women government ministers of Sweden