Sweden's foreign minister announced Friday she is stepping down, saying she would leave after almost five years in the post to spend more time with her family.
Foreign Minister Margot Wallström said that she had given notice to Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. It's not clear when her resignation will take effect.
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The outspoken Wallström, 64, became Sweden's top diplomat in October 2014. That year, she became the first European Union foreign minister to recognize a Palestinian state, angering Israel.
Wallström is infamous in Israel for having accused the IDF of carrying out "extrajudicial killings" of Palestinians who carry out terror attacks. The Swedish foreign minister sparked further outcry when, following a 2015 Islamic State terror attack on Paris' Bataclan nightclub that killed 115, Wallström cited the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one of the reasons "there are so many people who have become radicalized."
In her announcement, Wallström said, "For five years, I have wholeheartedly devoted myself to promoting Sweden's security and prosperity in the world. To face the big challenges of our time, in cooperation with others. I now want to spend more time with my husband, my children, and my grandchildren."
The question of her successor will be addressed when the Swedish Parliament reconvenes Tuesday after its summer break, the prime minister told Swedish news agency TT.
