Ordinary Swede gets invited to key minister’s dinner by accident
A member of the right-wing holds a Swedish flag as he demonstrates against a new mosque at Keillers Park in Gothenburg, southwest Sweden, on May 21, 2011. Around 100 people, many waving Swedish flags and wearing T-shirts with a red line drawn through a picture of the mosque, joined the right-wing demonstration against the building, which is set to be inaugurated next month, police said. At the same time, two separate left-wing marches in favour of the Islamic place of worship drew around 700 people, according to police, although organisers insisted the counter demonstrations attracted some 2,000-2,500 people. AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images)
A recent mix-up in Sweden led one ordinary Swede to crash a key ministerial dinner.
Sweden's environment minister, Lena Ek, thought she had invited the country's former agriculture minister, Margareta Winberg, to attend the important environmental dinner, the Associated Press reported.
But it turns out the the invitation went to the "wrong" Winberg of the same name.
“I received an invitation; it had my name and my address on it. I didn’t really think too much about it,” Winberg told the Swedish newspaper The Local.
The 67-year old retiree from Sundbyberg told Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter she enjoyed herself and met some interesting people, "like that guy Blix," a reference to former chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix.
Ek's spokesman said the minister found the situation "extremely funny."
And when she realized her mistake “she did everything she could so that the lady wouldn’t feel uncomfortable," said Ek's spokesperson Erik Bratthall.
There weren't any security concerns either. “The Rosenbad guards can handle retired ladies,” Bratthall said.
More from GlobalPost: World's biggest McDonald's to be built at the Olympics
Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you. We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
Make a gift today, and you’ll help us unlock a matching gift of $67,000!