Sweden opens corruption probe over FM Wallstrom's apartment contract

"I welcome the investigation. I have nothing to hide and it is good that this will be resolved," controversial politician says.

By REUTERS
Updated: JANUARY 19, 2016 17:36
Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom (photo credit: REUTERS)
Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom
(photo credit: REUTERS)
STOCKHOLM - The Swedish Prosecution Authority will open a preliminary investigation over whether an apartment rental contract given to Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom by a trade union constituted a bribe, the authority said in a statement on Tuesday.
Wallstrom rented an apartment in Stockholm in a building owned by trade union Kommunal from April 2015. While a popular minister among voters, she is one of Sweden's most controversial politicians due to her open criticism of Israel.
"I welcome the investigation. I have nothing to hide and it is good that this will be resolved. I continue to do my job," Wallstrom said in a written statement to news agency TT.
Chief prosecutor Alf Johansson told TT there were no suspects at this point.
"First, I will investigate whether a crime has been committed, and in connection with that see if someone can be regarded as a suspect," Johansson told TT.
Apartment contracts are a hard to get in Stockholm, where construction has not been fast enough to accommodate a huge number of new inhabitants over the last few decades. 
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Wallstrom, characterizing her statements calling for an investigation of Israeli “extrajudicial killings” during the current wave of terrorism that Israel is facing as “outrageous, immoral, unjust and just wrong.”