Swedish Major General Lena Persson Herlitz goes straight into NATO’s top management.
She is appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary General Intelligence.
– This is an important appointment for Sweden, says Defense Minister Pål Jonsson (M) in a press release.
Lena Persson Herlitz will take office after the summer of 2026.
– Being appointed to this role makes me extremely proud and I humbly look forward to the challenge. It is proof that we as an ally are doing good work within NATO and that our skills are in demand, says Persson Herlitz in a press release.
In the role, she becomes deputy to NATO’s intelligence chief and gets a key position in the work with the alliance’s intelligence and security flows.
Previously worked in Afghanistan
The position is located at the Joint Intelligence and Security Division at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
– This is an important appointment for Sweden. Major General Lena Persson Herlitz becomes one of the highest Swedish officials in the NATO structure. It is in line with Sweden’s overall goal that Swedes should have relevant positions within NATO, says Defense Minister Pål Jonson.
The Joint Intelligence and Security Division is responsible, among other things, for intelligence analysis and documentation for civilian and military decision-makers within the entire alliance.
Lena Persson Herlitz has a long career in the Armed Forces behind her.
She has previously served in the coastal artillery and made missions abroad in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Kosovo. Persson Herlitz also worked for several years at Must and led the Swedish intelligence cell in Kabul. In 2020, she was promoted to major general.
