Thomas Östros is a Swedish economist and Social Democratic politician who has been serving as vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) since 2020. Earlier in his career, he held positions as CEO of the Swedish Bankers' Association and Executive Director for Northern Europe at the International Monetary Fund.

Göran Persson served as Prime Minister of Sweden between 22 March 1996 and 6 October 2006. Persson took over after Ingvar Carlsson, who retired as party leader and Prime Minister. Following the 2006 general election, he and the Persson Cabinet lost power to a centre-right coalition government.