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Local Sweden
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Inside Sweden: What's missing from Jimmie Åkesson's apology for his party's past?
The Local's Deputy Editor Becky Waterton rounds up the biggest stories of the week in our Inside Sweden newsletter. Advertisement Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson apologised to the country's Jewish population this week after the party released the second half of its "white book", a document reporting the history of the party from 1989 to its entry into parliament in 2010. The document, written by Uppsala University historian Tony Gustafsson, confirmed among other things that the party emerged from Bevara Sverige Svenskt (Keep Sweden Swedish), a racist, right-wing extremist and nationalist campaign organisation, in the late 80s. The Sweden Democrats continued to use the Keep Sweden Swedish slogan on campaign materials in its early years. It also confirmed that the party published antisemitic material during the 1990s. Members of the youth organisation, it said, openly listed to antisemitic white power music, dreamt of racial war, detested homosexuality and praised the Ku Klux Klan and the Holocaust. During a speech at political festival Almedalen, Åkesson apologised for his party's antisemitic past. 'I apologise deeply and ask for forgiveness, personally and on the behalf of the Sweden Democrats, that there was a time that my party was home to people with antisemitic views.' 'Antisemitism does not belong in Sweden, does not belong in Swedish politics, and should always be fought,' he added. Advertisement He also said that he felt 'uncomfortable that there was actually a time when Jews in Sweden had completely rational reasons to view the Sweden Democrats of the time with concern and fear.' "I deeply regret, and apologise, that my party at the time could be perceived as threatening and frightening for Jews in Sweden,' he added. Åkesson's apology was welcomed in many corners, including by Aron Verständig, the chair of the country's Jewish Council. However, it left something to be desired – not only because of the fact that Åkesson was quick to use it as a political opportunity to absolve his party of blame and point fingers at the Swedish left instead. It's not exactly hard to find examples of the views mentioned in the Sweden Democrats' white book from members of the party in recent years. As recently as last year, one of the party's MPs was caught on tape belting out a racist chant at the party's EU election night event. The same year, a Sweden Democrat politician in Gothenburg was ejected from her position as a lay judge after claiming that 'the left, liberals and globalists [a common code word used by the far-right to refer to Jewish people]' were conspiring to replace Swedes with immigrants. Sure, both of those Sweden Democrats were kicked out of the party, but there are other, often more senior members of the party who have made similar statements with no consequences. Barely a year ago, Åkesson himself wrote an article using white nationalist language where he claimed that Swedes were being systematically replaced by immigrants. Advertisement If the Sweden Democrats, as he claimed in his speech at Almedalen, have successfully cleaned up their act, why then, did Sweden's extreme right fringe groups celebrate the party's election gains back in 2022 as a move forward for the racial ideology movement? Is Åkesson's apology real, or just a political tool to try to disarm the opposition next time they point out the fact that the Sweden Democrats still have problems with racism and Nazi sympathisers in their party? Where is the apology Sweden's Islamic Association has asked for, after Muslims in Sweden have been the target of Islamophobic abuse from the Sweden Democrats for years? Where is the apology for immigrants, particularly immigrants of colour, who among other things were depicted as stupid, violent or dangerous in videos spread by the Sweden Democrats' troll factory last year? Where is the apology for the LGBT+ community, after top Sweden Democrat Björn Söder's comments claiming that Pride had 'close and legitimate links to pedophilia'? Those examples aren't ancient history dug up from decades ago ‒ they all took place within the last few years. That period of change Åkesson claims the party went through in 1995 looks like it still has a long way to go. Advertisement In other news Sweden is set to roll out language and civics tests for citizenship next summer. But the universities tasked with developing the tests say that timeline doesn't give them nearly enough time. Looking for a change of career? Despite an ongoing period of low growth, Swedish employers are crying out for staff in multiple professions, according to new figures ‒ and not all of those jobs require years of training. GAMES: Have you tried The Local's games for Membership+ subscribers yet? We've got a new crossword and word search puzzle out now The vice-chancellors of four of Sweden's largest universities are warning that Europe could end up "a scientific backwater" unless it deepens its collaboration with China. No more than 15 naturalisation applications were approved during Sweden's recent citizenship freeze, statistics reveal. But the processing of cases is hopefully picking up pace. Are you on summer holidays yet, or will you be heading off soon? Whether it's going for a swim, climbing Kebnekaise, exploring the Gothenburg archipelago, enjoying a platter of prawns, or discovering a new city, we want to hear your best recommendations for making the most of the Swedish summer. The former US ambassador to Sweden, Erik Ramanathan, is back in Sweden for the Almedalen political week in Visby. He told The Local why he thinks Nato countries can still rely on US support despite US President Donald Trump's rhetoric, and why he'll be attending Stockholm Pride. Sweden's Liberals officially chose their new party leader this week ‒ Simona Mohamsson, who vowed to bring "tough love" to immigration and integration politics in her first speech as party leader. Will one of her first moves be to change the Liberals' stance on the far-right Sweden Democrats? We've also put together our monthly list of the new laws, events and other things changing in Sweden next month. Thanks for reading, Becky Waterton Deputy Editor, The Local Sweden Inside Sweden is our weekly newsletter for members which gives you news, analysis and, sometimes, takes you behind the scenes at The Local. It's published each Saturday and with Membership+ you can also receive it directly to your inbox.
Local Sweden
04-06-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
Sweden could send up to 600 convicted criminals to Estonian prisons
A new agreement between Sweden and Estonia means that up to 600 criminals convicted in Sweden could serve time in prisons in Estonia, in what Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has described as a "historic" deal. Advertisement The new agreement, which is designed to partly solve Sweden's problem with a lack of prison space, is the result of negotiations which began this spring. The two countries have agreed that Sweden can rent 400 cells in a prison in Tartu – the entire prison – in the southeastern part of the country, which would house up to 600 convicted criminals. Prisoners eligible to be placed in Estonia would be men over the age of 18 who are convicted for crimes in Sweden. Both Swedish and foreign criminals would be eligible, with the exception of Estonian citizens. Under the deal Sweden would only be able to send prisoners who do not pose a major security risk, roughly equivalent to convicted criminals classed at security level two in Sweden, on a three-point scale. Staff in the prison in Tartu would be Estonian, but they would be able to speak English, and prisoners would have the right to interpreters. Estonian laws would apply, but some rules have been put into place to make sure that prisoners in Estonia have the same rights they would have had in Sweden. This includes rules around occupational activities, visitational rights and communication with the outside world. Advertisement The Swedish Prison and Probation Service would also have staff on site to assist with training Estonian staff. Sweden would also save money by sending prisoners to Estonia. According to Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer, an Estonian prison stay would cost the state around €8,500 a month per person, compared to €11,500 per month in Sweden. A government-appointed inquiry which presented its findings late last year concluded there were no barriers in the Swedish constitution or European conventions which would bar it from renting prison spaces abroad. The deal requires a parliamentary vote with a three quarter majority before Sweden can start sending prisoners to Estonia. This means that the government and its Sweden Democrat allies will need the support of the Social Democrats, currently in opposition, to approve it. The law has a suggested implementation date of July 1st, 2026.
Local Sweden
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Swedish government pushes forward with bid to revoke gang criminals' citizenship
Sweden's conservative-led government has appointed a new inquiry to look into how dual citizens involved in gang crime could have their Swedish citizenship revoked. Advertisement The inquiry follows a committee which in January recommended changing the constitution to make it possible to revoke Swedish citizenship for dual citizens who commit crimes which threaten Sweden's security – but takes the committee's conclusions one step further. The committee, made up of members of all eight parties, proposed that the absolute right Swedish citizens have to retain their citizenship should be limited to allow the citizenship of dual citizens to be revoked in three situations: If they are found guilty of crimes which pose a serious threat to Sweden's security, such as espionage, terrorism, sabotage, treason, or rebellion If they are found guilty of crimes covered by the International Criminal Court, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression If they received their citizenship on false grounds, either through supplying false documents or information or by bribing or threatening government officials The committee however stopped short of recommending stripping citizenship from people found guilty of 'system-threatening crimes' within the framework of gang crime. But the three parties in government – the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals – and their far-right Sweden Democrat allies, have instructed the new inquiry to also look into measures for revoking dual citizens' Swedish nationality over such crimes. 'We're choosing to proceed with this work and are hoping for broader support in parliament,' Migration Minister Johan Forssell told a press conference on May 26th. Anders Ygeman, migration spokesperson for the centre-left Social Democrats, told The Local in January that his party had refused to support the government parties' approach at the time because it was framed so loosely that it "could be used for situations which were impossible to predict beforehand". "If the government wants to widen the scope, they need to be much more precise and you have to be able to predict the consequences," he said. Advertisement However, Forssell argued at the press conference that widening the scope was necessary to crack down on gang criminals taking advantage of a Swedish passport to travel and avoid getting deported while carrying out crimes that seriously threaten the vital interests of the state. He cited police statistics estimating that 1,100 people who are currently active members of criminal networks have dual citizenship. The new inquiry will also look into the general practicalities of how citizenships could be revoked. It is set to present its results by March 20th 2026. Changing one of Sweden's constitutional laws requires the bill to be passed by the Swedish parliament twice, once either side of a general election. As the 2026 election will be held in September and a new government is unlikely to be in place until October or November, in practice this means that any change to the constitution would not come into force until 2027 at the earliest.
Local Sweden
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
Sweden's security checks force Migration Agency to halt approvals of citizenship applications
Sweden's processing rate of new citizenships has more than halved after new security checks were introduced, with the Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) unable to approve applications in standard cases for over a month. Advertisement In the month of April, Sweden granted around 1,200 out of 3,000 processed citizenship applications – in other words, almost 60 percent of applications were rejected. Normally, the rejection rate is around 20-30 percent. A Migration Agency spokesperson explained to The Local that because it hasn't yet fully set up its routines for the in-person identification required of applicants as of the start of April, it has not been able to approve any 'standard' citizenship applications. The majority of cases concluded in April were instead clear-cut rejections, which explains the high rejection rate. Those that were approved were mainly in so-called 'citizenship by notification' cases, such as children and Nordic citizens who have an easier route to citizenship. Meanwhile, the number of processed citizenship applications fell by more than half in April compared to March, according to Migration Agency figures obtained by The Local. And as we have previously reported, the number of granted citizenships plummeted by over 70 percent between March and April. More detailed citizenship statistics are expected to be available from May 15th. In October 2024, the Migration Agency predicted that it would conclude 87,000 applications each year in 2025 and 2026, thanks to increased staff at the agency – a first step towards reducing the heavily criticised long waiting times for Swedish citizenship. But the new security checks imposed by the government forced the agency in April to lower its previous estimate by more than a quarter: to 64,000 concluded citizenship cases in 2025 and 65,000 in 2026. Advertisement The security checks, which were introduced on April 1st, involve applicants, future and present, answering a detailed set of additional background questions, as well as having to verify their identity in person. The requirements for gaining citizenship have not changed. It was initially reported there would be exceptions from the in-person identification for certain nationalities with biometric passports, but a spokesperson last month told The Local that those haven't yet been implemented. It is not yet clear when the Migration Agency's new system for in-person checks will be in place, allowing the agency to resume processing these cases. The security checks came on the orders of the government and its far-right Sweden Democrat allies, who instructed the Migration Agency to take 'forceful measures' to prevent people who pose a threat to security or use a fake ID from being granted citizenship. Experts had previously guessed that security checks would be tightened as a pretext of slowing down the awarding of new citizenships until the reforms planned for 2026 are in place – a slowdown strongly hinted at by the government in an opinion piece in the DN newspaper in November. Advertisement In March, Sweden's National Audit Office criticised both the Migration Agency and the government over "unreasonably" long processing times which allow thousands of applications to "lie dormant". According to the Migration Agency, 75 percent of adult applicants whose cases were concluded "recently" had to wait 23 months, but waiting times have in the past tended to vary widely, from a few weeks to many years. The full extent to how waiting times will be affected by the new security checks is not yet clear. *Note that the data for the two graphs in the article was sourced on slightly different dates, so although they roughly add up, they are not directly comparable
Local Sweden
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
New citizenship statistics reveal impact of Sweden's security checks
Brand new figures from the Swedish Migration Agency suggest that the awarding of citizenships has slowed down radically since the government ordered it to impose stricter security checks on applicants at the start of April. Advertisement The number of granted citizenships plummeted by 74 percent between March and April, from 4,769 to 1,229. The Migration Agency made a decision on 3,009 citizenship applications in April. An agency spokesperson wasn't immediately able to share the number of concluded citizenship cases in March, but via the Wayback Machine we found that it concluded 7,915 cases in February. So far this year, 24,844 citizenship cases have received a decision, which means that prior to April 1st, the Migration Agency processed on average around 7,000 cases per month – in other words, there was also a sharp decline in the number of concluded cases in April. "It's hard to draw any conclusions based only on the figures for the month of April, but in our forecast which we published on April 25th 2025, we estimated that the measures to increase security in the processing of citizenships will affect the pace of decision-making," the Migration Agency spokesperson told The Local. "That's a reason for why we, compared to previous estimates, lowered the forecast for the number of concluded citizenship cases this year and the coming years. The lowered forecast is also due to, among other things, our work on resolving the oldest cases." More detailed statistics on citizenship applications are expected to be available from May 15th. In October 2024, the Migration Agency predicted that it would conclude 87,000 applications each year in 2025 and 2026, thanks to increased staff at the agency – a first step towards reducing the heavily criticised long waiting times for Swedish citizenship. But as the spokesperson said, the new security checks forced the agency in April to lower its previous estimate by more than a quarter: to 64,000 concluded citizenship cases in 2024 and 65,000 in 2026. The security checks that were introduced on April 1st involve applicants, future and present, answering a detailed set of additional background questions, as well as having to verify their identity in person. Advertisement They came on the orders of the government and its far-right Sweden Democrat allies, who instructed the Migration Agency to take 'forceful measures' to prevent people who pose a threat to security or use a fake ID from being granted citizenship. Experts had previously guessed that security checks would be tightened as a pretext of slowing down the awarding of new citizenships until the reforms planned for 2026 are in place – a slowdown strongly hinted at by the government in an opinion piece in the DN newspaper in November. In March, Sweden's National Audit Office criticised both the Migration Agency and the government over "unreasonably" long processing times which allow thousands of applications to "lie dormant". According to the Migration Agency, 75 percent of adult applicants whose cases were concluded "recently" had to wait 23 months, but waiting times have in the past tended to vary widely, from a few weeks to many years. The full extent to how waiting times will be affected by the new security checks is not yet clear.
