LUXEMBOURG — Sweden’s climate minister Romina Pourmokhtari surprised colleagues at EU ministerial talks on Thursday when she brought her three-month-old son, Adam, to the negotiating table, using the appearance to spotlight parental leave policies that let parents combine careers and childcare.
Pourmokhtari, 30, who returned from parental leave earlier this year, said she wanted to demonstrate that women need not choose between work and family. “I wanted to showcase being an example of not having to make that choice,” she told Reuters, adding that it also helps to have a supportive partner willing to share childcare duties.
An EU Council official said it was the first known instance of a baby attending a meeting of EU ministers. Pourmokhtari’s husband, who is on leave until Sweden’s September election, accompanied her to Luxembourg to help care for their son.
Sweden’s generous parental leave system, funded through relatively high taxes, provides about 16 months of paid leave per child, including 90 non-transferable days reserved for each parent. Those “dad months” were designed to encourage fathers’ participation in early childcare and have emerged as a contentious issue in Sweden’s election campaign.
Pourmokhtari credited Sweden’s leave rules and workplace support for making shared caregiving more acceptable. She urged governments to consider not only longer leave but also greater flexibility in sharing leave and more affordable childcare, arguing these measures reduce burnout and deliver broader social and economic benefits.
Poland’s deputy climate minister Krzysztof Bolesta downplayed any disruption, calling the presence of a baby “great” and “just a part of life.”