Håkan Syrén

Håkan Syrén
Born	31 January 1952 Växjö, Sweden
Allegiance	Sweden
Service/branch	Swedish Navy
Years of service	1970–2012[1]
Rank	General
Commands held	CO Marine Amphibious Battalion, CO Coast Artillery Regiment, Head of Operations Planning Department – Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters, Secretary to the Defence Commission – Ministry of Defence, Chief Joint Military Intelligence and Security, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces
Awards	Commandeur of Legion of Honour etc

General Håkan Erik Gunnar Syrén (born 31 January 1952) is a General of the Swedish Amphibious Corps and chairman of the European Union Military Committee. He was the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces from 1 January 2004 to 25 March 2009, and was the first Supreme Commander to come from the Navy.

Syrén's military education has been carried out in part at the US Naval War College and the US Naval Postgraduate School. During the years 1999–2003, he was in charge of the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service, and as such rose to the rank of Lieutenant General. When appointed Supreme Commander he was also promoted to General. His appointment lasted until 31 December 2009.

On 29 October 2008, the Chiefs of Defence meeting of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) endorsed Syren as the next chairman of the EUMC. In the position as CEUMC he was formally appointed by the Council of the European Union for a period of three years and succeeded general Henri Bentégeat on 6 November 2009.^[2][3] On 25 March 2009 he was succeeded by Sverker Göranson as Supreme Commander.

References

1. Tengroth, Jesper (20 November 2012). "Avanmälan genomförd – nu lämnar Syrén efter 43 år i Försvarsmakten" (in Swedish). Swedish Armed Forces. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
2. Swede likely to head top military council European Voice, 24 October 2008.
3. Press Release, 2914th Council meeting, General Affairs and External Relations, Brussels Consilium, 8 December 2008, p. 35.