Sweden is not just a country of depressed suicidals, says Leif Pagrotsky.

Pagrotsky: Well, many Americans think that Swedes commit suicide a lot. We are very depressed. It’s always dark and sometimes you have the atmosphere of a nightmare, and people [describe] their image of Sweden. Although, I must say, it is more and more the other one, the one we discussed a while ago about creativity, curiosity, a place they would like to visit and what kind of places do they like to visit? Well, places that provokes their curiosity. And we are, Sweden is more and more a place that goes against the tide, that chooses individual solutions, that stands for unconventional wisdom, and that attracts attention and curiosity and that, I think, takes over more and more compared to the old one. Perhaps this is a new generation that is shaped by music, film, that brands like IKEA and Volvo, that stands for innovation, creativity, modernity… I hope so, at least, but maybe I’m only the victim of wishful thinking, but this is my attitude here.