logo
How Sweden can woo American scientists

How Sweden can woo American scientists

Local Sweden23-04-2025
This week's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra for Membership+ subscribers features interviews with Gothenburg politician Axel Darvik and Uppsala University vice chancellor Anders Hagstedt.
Advertisement
With the Trump administration withdrawing funding from many universities and colleges, a growing number of US-based research professionals are weighing up their alternatives and Sweden is eager to present itself as an irresistible option for anyone setting their sights on Europe.
This week we have interviews with two Swedes who are working to attract American academics to Sweden.
Earlier this month The Local Sweden's deputy editor Becky Waterton spoke to the Gothenburg politician Axel Darvik from the Liberal Party about why the west coast city would make an excellent new home for American academics looking to relocate.
She also caught up with Anders Hagfeldt, the vice chancellor of Uppsala University. He too is keen to attract Americans to what is the oldest university in the Nordic region and one of the most respected.
Membership+ subscribers can listen to the interviews in the latest episode of Sweden in Focus Extra, out 23 April.
READ ALSO: 'Never waste a good crisis': How Sweden wants to attract US talent fleeing Trump
Get Membership+ to listen to all The Local's podcasts
Sweden in Focus Extra is a podcast for The Local's Membership+ subscribers.
Sign up to Membership+ now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday.
Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+
Read more about Membership+ in our help centre.
Already have Membership+ but not receiving all the episodes? Go to the podcast tab on your account page to activate your subscription on a podcast platform. If you prefer to listen on the site, you can find all episodes at the bottom of our podcast page.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Why are Swedish media suddenly naming Forssell as minister in white supremacism scandal?
Why are Swedish media suddenly naming Forssell as minister in white supremacism scandal?

Local Sweden

time4 days ago

  • Local Sweden

Why are Swedish media suddenly naming Forssell as minister in white supremacism scandal?

The Local and several other Swedish news sites have made the decision to name Migration Minister Johan Forssell as the government minister whose close relative has been linked to white supremacist groups. The Local Sweden's editor explains the decision. Advertisement Ulf Kristersson's government managed to scrape by for a week without saying anything of real substance on the anonymous minister's links to white supremacism via a family member, a story broken by Expo, before most of Swedish mainstream media let the cat out of the bag. The cat, in this case, being Migration Minister Johan Forssell. It started with Nyhetsbyrån Järva naming him last week, with local newspapers Västerbottens-kuriren and Gefle Dagblad following suit over the weekend. But of course by then, it was already all over the internet via social media and forums. Expressen then became the first national newspaper to name him on Wednesday. After first anonymising Forssell, The Local also made the decision to name him on July 9th. Why did it take so long? First, it involves an underage person, who according to an anonymous statement from the minister has after a 'long and frank conversation' now left that world behind. Secondly, Swedish media ethics are extremely clear on the idea that journalists should show strong restraint when it comes to identifying a person when publishing damaging (potentially for life) information about them, especially if they are not a public figure. So in this case, it was never a question about protecting Forssell – he's very much a public figure, so there is an obvious public interest – it's about protecting the relative and giving an underage non-public figure a second chance to get their life together. On the other hand, if a minister in any government has close links to someone said to be involved in organisations that promote violent neo-Nazi ideals, it's a security risk. It is also the government that's pushed through some of the harshest immigration reforms in years, including threatening to revoke residency permits on loose grounds of "poor conduct", and which has made it clear that it does matter who your relatives are. Forssell has been one of the most outspoken ministers about, for example, parents in largely immigrant suburbs being responsible for keeping their children away from gangs. The reasons for not naming Forssell still weighed heavily, however, and it should have been perfectly possible to hold both him and the government to account nonetheless. The problem was that the government tried its best to make it impossible. Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer – the only minister to comment on the quickly-growing scandal – refused when approached by public broadcaster SVT last week to even speak about whether or not the relative's actions could constitute a security risk. Advertisement According to Expo, the relative had 'sought out and joined' some of Sweden's most racist groups, including Det fria Sverige and Aktivklubb Sverige, and collaborated with an activist from the Nordic Resistance Movement, which was classified as a terror group by the US last summer. Swedish police believe Aktivklubb Sverige is actively trying to map Swedish officials as potential targets for blackmail and engages in combat training with the long-term goal of creating a right-wing extremist militia. It's not hard to argue that even without naming his colleague, a justice minister should be able to have opinions on the security risk posed by far-right, violent extremism. The only other comment from a senior member of the government was a statement from Forssell himself, sent to the TT news agency via the prime minister's press secretary without the government actually disclosing the identity of the minister. In that statement, he said that he had only recently found out that his relative had been 'hanging out in completely the wrong circles' and that he had been working closely with the security police since then. 'I detest all kinds of political extremism and strongly distance myself from it,' read the comment. 'I have had long and frank conversations with the minor who is both remorseful and sad. All association with these circles is a closed chapter.' In fact, the only government confirmation of his identity came inadvertently when the Moderate Party's deputy party secretary phoned up the editor-in-chief of Västerbottens-kuriren to berate him for publishing the minister's name. Advertisement In Sweden, the decision of whether or not to name a person ultimately rests with the publisher (ansvarig utgivare) and exercising caution at first wasn't cowardly – it was the right decision if journalists were to uphold the values of our media ethics. The fact that Forssell's name was already all over the internet wasn't a huge factor – each newsroom traditionally makes its own editorial decisions, another key principle. But with the government refusing to answer questions, and its representatives openly trying to influence editorial decisions, it got to a point where naming Forssell was the only possible option to protect the public's democratic right to know what's going on. We also can't refrain from reporting the proceedings of parliament. Expressen, Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet all said that the decisive point came when the Left Party called Forssell to testify in front of parliament's social insurance committee about his relative's links to white supremacism. Not reporting on a minister's work and that of the highest democratically elected body in Sweden would be unthinkable. Advertisement This was the decisive point for The Local, too. Additionally, for us, naming Forssell is at this stage the only way we can serve our core audience – foreign residents in Sweden, who are the people most affected by the government's migration reforms – and keep you informed. This is not about the relative. This is about the government, the prime minister and Forssell putting their money where their mouth is – or are we only responsible for our family if we're from abroad and is 'poor conduct' something only immigrants should have to worry about? It's time for the government to come out of hiding, stop downplaying the threat from far-right extremism, and start answering questions.

All you need to know about hunting in Sweden
All you need to know about hunting in Sweden

Local Sweden

time4 days ago

  • Local Sweden

All you need to know about hunting in Sweden

This week's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra for Membership+ subscribers features an interview with Swedish hunting expert Filip Örnerkrans. Advertisement This week's episode consists of a fascinating interview with Filip Örnerkrans, a Swedish gun maker and hunting expert. He spoke recently with The Local's Becky Waterton about the historical and cultural details that help explain why hunting is so popular in Sweden, how gun ownership is regulated in a country that's home to almost 2 million firearms and how the hunting community has reacted to the government's decision to ban AR-15 semi-automatic rifles for hunting. READ ALSO: Membership+ subscribers can listen to the interview in the latest episode of Sweden in Focus Extra, out July 9th. Get Membership+ to listen to all The Local's podcasts Sweden in Focus Extra is a podcast for The Local's Membership+ subscribers. Sign up to Membership+ now and get early, ad-free access to a full-length episode of the Sweden in Focus podcast every weekend, as well as Sweden in Focus Extra every Wednesday. Please visit the link that applies to you and get a 40% discount on Membership+ Read more about Membership+ in our help centre. Already have Membership+ but not receiving all the episodes? Go to the podcast tab on your account page to activate your subscription on a podcast platform. If you prefer to listen on the site, you can find all episodes at the bottom of our podcast page.

What do we know so far about Sweden's plans to survey immigrants' values?
What do we know so far about Sweden's plans to survey immigrants' values?

Local Sweden

time6 days ago

  • Local Sweden

What do we know so far about Sweden's plans to survey immigrants' values?

Simona Mohamsson, Sweden's education and integration minister, said in July that the government is moving forward with its plans to survey immigrants' values. What do we know about the proposal so far? Advertisement When was the survey first proposed? Sweden's then-employment and integration minister, Mats Persson, announced plans to investigate immigrants' values back in October 2024 in an interview with tabloid Aftonbladet. He said at the time that the goal of the survey was to find out to what extent immigrants' values match or deviate from what he called 'liberal democratic values'. In July 2025, Mohamsson, Sweden's new education and integration minister, confirmed to Swedish broadsheet Dagens Nyheter (DN) that the government will be moving forward with those plans, which were in 2024 expected to cost around two million kronor. What is the aim of the survey? Both Mohamsson and Persson have said that the survey will be used to guide integration efforts going forward, although it's not entirely clear what they mean by that. Mohamsson told DN that she 'is not ruling anything out'. 'It could be changes in schools, social orientation courses [for newly-arrived refugees], SFI classes,' she said. She added that the point of the survey is 'not to change people's opinions.' 'It's about upholding the values we have in Sweden. It would be strange if we said certain people didn't need to have these values.' When will it take place and how will it work? According to Mohamsson, the survey will take place in the autumn of 2025. The World Values Survey research group will be responsible for carrying out the survey at a cost of five million kronor. It will interview around 3,000 people, half of whom have a Swedish background and the other half of whom have a 'non-Western' background. The World Values Survey has carried out similar surveys in Sweden before which showed that a lot of so-called nyanlända, a term usually used to refer to newly-arrived refugees, have differing views on topics like divorce, premarital sex, abortion and homosexuality than people born in Sweden. However, after ten years in the country, their views were much closer to those of the Swedes. 'Ten years is too long,' Mohamsson said. 'That's a whole generation of girls who can't choose who they want to love or boys who can't come out of the closet.' Persson said back in 2024 that the survey will be anonymised, so it will not be possible to trace answers back to specific people, and that it will ideally take place every year. Advertisement What do immigrants think about the survey? When the government first announced plans to survey immigrants about their values, we asked The Local's readers for their opinions. Almost half (48 percent) of the 75 people who answered our non-scientific survey thought that the government's plans to survey foreigners' values was a 'good idea', with 29.3 percent stating they thought it was a 'bad idea'. The other respondents, 22.7 percent, answered 'both good and bad / don't know'. You can read the full article presenting the results of our survey here.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store