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Local Sweden
6 days ago
- Business
- Local Sweden
Old Hat, New Hat: What direction did Sweden's Social Democrats set?
The Local's Nordic Editor Richard Orange surveys the Social Democrat party congress over the weekend and argues that the party swung neither to the left nor to the right, and that while it was not "totally new", it didn't stay exactly the same either. Advertisement The children's classic "Old Hat New Hat", in which a genial but down-at-heel bear tries on a dizzying variety of hats to the growing rage of a salesman, is burned into my brain. I must have read it to my children a hundred times. So it popped unprompted into my head when I was surveying the reaction to the Social Democrats' Congress in Gothenburg. Did the five days mark the launch of a renewed party which can bring "a new direction for Sweden", as the party's leader Magdalena Andersson promised no fewer than seven times in her speech (new hat). Or was it, as Expressen's commentator Viktor Barth-Kron argued, "in many ways a manifestation of the opposite" (old hat). Did it mark, as Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson argued, "a dangerous swing to the left"? (too lumpy?) Or did it instead show the party swinging so far towards the Sweden Democrats on crime and immigration that, as Daniel Suhonen, leader of the party's left-wing Reformisterna faction, complained in an Aftonbladet podcast, it was "too close" to the populist party (too shiny?). It's hard to take these verdicts entirely seriously. Advertisement The most left-wing proposals brought to the conference – that the party legislate to cut the working week to 35 hours by 2035, that it bring in a property tax, fastighetsskatt, and that it abandon fiscal discipline to enable a debt-funded infrastructure splurge – were all largely neutralised by the party leadership. While the party backed shorter working times in principle, it said this should for now be left to unions and employers to negotiate. The property tax was rejected flat out. The party proposed a "loan-financed total defence fund", which will help "ramp up military and civil defence at a breakneck pace", but its financial spokesperson Mikael Damberg held a speech extolling the benefits of fiscal discipline. There were some concrete left-wing reforms which were decided on, however, such as ending the system where workers forgo benefits for their first day off sick, bringing in the same sort of "high cost protection" for dental care as there is for other healthcare, and a promise to look into "increased tax on capital incomes". The party also voted to "ban profit extraction from preschool, school, and upper secondary schools". The accusation of "sounding like the Sweden Democrats" is a little more credible. The biggest new crime proposal, the anti-mafia law, was pinched from the far-right party, which proposed it back in 2011. The party also voted for a proposal that Sweden's asylum regime to be "as strict as possible under EU law", a formulation taken straight from the far-right party. But the Social Democrats have been moving towards a stricter policy on crime and migration for nearly a decade, so this is hardly new, and in her speech Andersson still claimed to be holding the line against racism. "We should have a strict migration policy in Sweden, and a demand-based integration policy," she declared. "But racism, division and suspicion of others? No, never. That's not Sweden. In our country, in our home, we stick together!" More liberal voices on immigration tried to change the language on immigration from "strict" to "sustainable", and in the end a compromise "strict and sustainable" was voted through. Rather than "left" or "right", the party is still very much in the middle. One hat that Magdalena Andersson was certainly trying on was the one she lost in 2022, the prime minister's hat. Rather than addressing the delegates in front of her, she sought "instead to direct myself to the Swedish people", in a kind of "speech to the nation", so beloved of the current prime minister, Ulf Kristersson. She began by harking back to the most intense moment she had when she was prime minister in 2022: receiving a call at midnight from Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, just 12 hours after Russia's invasion. Advertisement She barely touched on any of the policy decisions being made at the congress, with Andersson instead making three pledges to the Swedish people: that she and her party would "protect Sweden's external and internal security", that it would bring a "tangible increase in prosperity", and that it would bring in measures to "increase social cohesion". Then there was the nationalist hat. Andersson said the word "Sweden" no fewer than 46 times in her speech. The decisions taken over the weekend were not ultimately just about the party, she said, but "about Sweden". At a time when the election of Donald Trump and invasion of Ukraine has changed everything, she argued, the current government was "stuck in a complicated agreement that is an answer to yesterday's issues, yesterday's conflicts and old solutions". The fact that the government is prioritising tax breaks for those with the highest incomes, is, she said, "not just unfair politics, but also inefficient countercyclical policy". "I'm sorry, but it's actually just stone cold stupid," she said, in one of her few direct attacks on the government. The repeated use of the word säkerhet, meaning security, was, the journalist Jona Sima argued on Aftonbladet's Åsiktskorridoren podcast, a veiled attack on the government, given how the first national security advisor the government appointed resigned after losing classified documents, and the second over explicit pictures he shared on a hook-up app. With the right leadership (hers), Andersson argued, Sweden could do better. "We have done it before. This country, and all of us who live here. We have taken ourselves through tough times before. Rolled up our sleeves. And built the world's best country to live in. And we shall do that again." Advertisement So what about the "new direction" that got me thinking about hats old and new in the first place? Andersson claimed that under her leadership the Social Democrats had become a "more streamlined and effective" party. The congress not only marked the conclusion of the party's bottom-up policy rethink, but it also saw a change of guard. Morgan Johansson, Anders Ygeman, Peter Hultqvist and Ardalan Shekarabi, four leading figures from the previous Social Democrat government, look sidelined. Teresa Carvalho, who is fronting the party's tough-on-crime approach, was voted onto the powerful controlling committee, and Lawen Redar, who has been fronting a new plan to combat segregation, was also prominent. Mikael Damberg, however, remains solidly in place. At the end of the Old Hat New Hat, the bear tires of the hats on offer, rejecting each in turn as "too fancy, too shiny, too frilly, too bumpy" and so on, until he catches sight of his beloved patched-up original hat, and tries it on approvingly in the mirror, with the words "just right, just right, just right". This isn't quite what the Social Democrats have done. It is still the same cautious party, but it has some new policies, and in Andersson's speech and the congress as a whole, at least some new momentum. So neither old hat nor completely new, but somewhere in between. Advertisement What else has been happening this week in Swedish politics? Moderate Party calls for Magdalena Andersson to resign As the Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson played at being prime minister, the ruling Moderate Party was arguably acting more like the opposition, calling for Andersson to resign after her party was fined 3 million kronor for its lottery miss-selling scandal. Karin Enström, the Moderate Party's group secretary (and the sister of former national security advisor Henrik Landerholm), said that both Andersson and the Social Democrats' party secretary Tobias Baudin should resign. "It's so serious. It has never happened in Swedish politics before that a party has been fined 3 million kronor. You can't just shrug off the blame," she told Swedish Radio in an interview. Andersson hit back, joking that "this may not have been the best of weeks for the Moderates." Moderates lose voters to Centre Party The Moderate Party has lost voters to the Centre Party since the party appointed Anna-Karin Hatt as its new leader, according to a new poll from Indikator for Swedish public broadcaster SR. According to the poll, the Moderates have lost 3.7 percentage points, taking them to 17.4 percent, at the same times as the Centre Party has gained 1.7 percentage point, taking the party to 5.8 percent. The other big winner was the Sweden Democrats, which gained 1.8 percentage points, giving it a strong lead over the Moderates on 20 percent. The Social Democrats gained 0.6 percent, taking them to 36 percent. Advertisement Inquiry calls for state apology to international adoptees A government-appointed inquiry has proposed halting all international adoptions and called for a state apology to those adopted under questionable circumstances. The investigation, led by civil law professor Anna Singer, found evidence of child trafficking in about ten cases, mostly from the 1970s and 80s. In many more cases, parental consent was missing or poorly documented. Singer said Sweden can no longer ensure ethical standards abroad and criticised past inaction by Swedish authorities. 'The state must acknowledge the human rights violations that occurred and apologise,' she said. The inquiry was launched in 2021 after reports surfaced of children stolen from countries such as Chile, China, and South Korea. Social Services Minister Camilla Waltersson Grönvall said the government would review the report and did not rule out an official apology. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's three daughters are all adopted and he served as chair of Adoptionscentrum, the organisation arranging international adoptions to Sweden, between 2003 and 2005.
Local Sweden
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Local Sweden
All you need to know about Swedish sauna culture
This week's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra for Membership+ subscribers features an interview with Svante Spolander, co-founder of Sweden's Bastuakademien, or sauna academy. Advertisement In this week's episode we enter the steamy world of Swedish sauna culture. Recently The Local's Nordic editor and regular podcast panelist Richard Orange caught up with Svante Spolander, a co-founder of Sweden's Bastuakademien, or Sauna Academy. A native of the Torne Valley near the border with Finland, Spolander speaks with infectious enthusiasm about the history of Swedish sauna culture, a newfound interest in the practice thanks to a song by Sweden's Eurovision hopefuls KAJ, attitudes to nudity, and many other do's and don't of sharing a sauna with Swedes. Membership+ subscribers can listen to the interview in the latest episode of Sweden in Focus Extra, out May 14th. READ ALSO: 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.
Local Sweden
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
How Israel's invasion of Gaza became Swedish party politics again
When Hamas attacked Israel on October 2023, the right-wing parties in Sweden slammed the left for being too close to Palestinian groups. Now Israel is preparing a new Gaza invasion, the boot is on the other foot, writes The Local's Nordic Editor Richard Orange. Advertisement The opposition Social Democrats have been reluctant to take a strong position since Israel began its invasion of Gaza in October 2023, affirming Israel's right to self-defence while emphasising the need to protect civilian lives and uphold human rights during the invasion. That changed dramatically with party leader Magdalena Andersson's May 1st speech. She referred to the conflict as "Netanyahu's war", pinning the blame firmly on Israel's combative leader. That Israel has blocked emergency aid from entering Gaza for the past 50 days while bombings have continued, was, she said "unreasonable, unacceptable, and abominable". "How," she asked, "can Netanyahu and his ministers sleep at night?" But she also laid into Sweden's government, demanding that it "raise its voice" to stop the "bomb attacks", "killing of civilians", and "settler violence", and calling on it to pressure Israel to allow emergency aid to reach the two million hunger-stricken citizens of Gaza, and to pressure the EU to freeze its free trade agreement with Israel and impose sanctions. Two days earlier she had declared in a Facebook post that "all the indications are that Israel has committed war crimes", and called for the government "to meet toughness with toughness". The party's foreign policy spokesperson Morgan Johansson followed up the criticism of the government. "Sweden used to be a country which always stood up for international and human rights law and dared not only to criticise countries when they break human rights laws, but also actually take action," he told DN, calling for sanctions to be extended from settler groups to Israeli leaders. Advertisement The Social Democrats' harder tone was met by an immediate kick-back from Israel's ambassador to Sweden. "In the @socialdemokrats' virtual reality there is no Hamas terror, no Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and there are no Israeli hostages held in inhumane conditions for 571 days. There is only Israel to blame," Ziv Nevo Kulman wrote on X. In stark contrast to the sharp attacks on the Social Democrats in the aftermath of Hamas' terror attack on October 7th, 2023, the response from the ruling Moderate Party is now relatively subdued. "That is not for Sweden's government to decide. It's a legal judgement," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Dagens Nyheter somewhat evasively when asked if Israel had broken international human rights law. "But there's no doubt whatsoever that abhorrent things are happening in Gaza." Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said the government viewed the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza "with the utmost seriousness" and was demanding that Israel let humanitarian aid reach the suffering population. When she visited Israel and Palestine at the end of March, she was careful to treat both sides evenly, meeting both Palestine's prime minister and foreign minister Mohammad Mustafa and Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar. She called for the release of hostages held by Hamas, and discussion the expansion of settlements on the West Bank. Sweden's Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa said that there were no plans to meet Johansson's demands and push the EU to freeze its trade deal with Israel or extend sanctions. Malmer Stenergard's foreign policy statement to the parliament in February was broadly pro-Israel, reiterating the country's "right to defend itself against Hamas in the aftermath of the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust". A "Gaza free from Hamas rule" was, she added, "a political prerequisite" for a two-state solution. Israel in turn had "an obligation to protect the civilian population in Gaza and to secure access to humanitarian support", and also to respect international and humanitarian law. Advertisement These cautious statements are a big change from how the Gaza conflict impacted Swedish politics in the immediate aftermath of the October 7th attacks, when Niklas Gillström, press secretary for Finance Minister Elizabeth Svantesson, said the conflict had "truly shown the moral morass which exists in large parts of the Left". The Social Democrats were then under pressure for the decision of their Palestinian-born MP Jamal El-Haj to attend a conference in Malmö attended by figures linked to Hamas. Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan for a new, expanded offensive in Gaza, which Netanyahu has said will see Gaza's 2.1 million population "moved, to protect it", and troops remaining permanently in parts of the territory. Being supportive of Israel looks likely to become more and more politically challenging for Swedish politicians. Politics in Sweden is The Local's weekly analysis, guide or look ahead to what's coming up in Swedish politics. Update your newsletter settings to receive it directly to your inbox.
Local Sweden
16-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- Local Sweden
Ask the expert: What makes Sweden such a coffee culture?
This week's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra features an interview with Henrik Scander, senior lecturer in Culinary Arts at Örebro University. Advertisement Our guest this week is also a specialist on coffee, the hot drink of choice in a country where the habit of consuming coffee and cake is so ingrained that it has sparked global interest in Swedish fika culture. But just how central is fika to social and workplace life in Sweden, what's the quality of the coffee like in comparison to other countries, and why are Swedes so loyal to the regional coffee brands that are dotted around the country? These are just some of the things The Local's Nordic editor Richard Orange spoke about with Henrik Scander in a conversation they had earlier this April. Membership+ subscribers can listen to the full conversation in the latest episode of Sweden in Focus Extra, out April 16th. READ ALSO: 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.
Local Sweden
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Local Sweden
INSIDE SWEDEN: Spring getaways, abolishing PR, and barrels of human waste
The Local's Nordic editor Richard Orange rounds up the biggest stories of the week in our Inside Sweden newsletter. Advertisement I'm writing this on the way to Hannover on the second leg of my annual rail odyssey to my family in the UK. But rather than moan about the trains being late (again, which they are), I thought I'd cover the viral - or perhaps more accurately, bacterial - story about the Danish chef couple who abandoned their so-called luxury eco-retreat, leaving behind 158 barrels of poo. After they claimed this was in fact "very normal" in Sweden in an interview with the UK's Guardian newspaper, a member of The Local's staff revealed, somewhat grudgingly, that they, too, store poo at their summer house, with eight barrels in an outbuilding. We felt this was something we needed to get to the bottom of so I contacted Charlotte Löfgren, senior adviser for sewage collection at Swedish Regions, the umbrella organisation for Sweden's municipalities. She confirmed that it is, indeed, "not uncommon" in areas that aren't connected to municipal sewage systems. It is even possible to compost it yourself, as the couple claimed they were doing. "You can do it, but you don't keep it in barrels like that, and you don't have 158 of them," Löfgren said. "Composting is for a summer house that you go to for four weeks a year. It's not for this kind of resort. It's too much. What are you supposed to do with it?" Advertisement Our puzzles move from strength to strength. This week our crossword touches on the latest news and general knowledge about Sweden. Our word search has a special fika theme! Play here! When the government announced their Tidö Agreement with the far-right Sweden Democrats back in October 2022, one of the clauses that caused readers the most worry was the proposal to abolish permanent residency, especially after the then boss of Migration Agency said he'd "be worried" about that if he was an immigrant. Last week, the interim conclusions to this inquiry were delivered, with asylum seekers and some others stripped of the right to receive permanent residency. We broke down the details of who will be affected. The possibility of removing permanent residency permits already awarded will be discussed in the final report in October, and it's hard to see how this wouldn't be in some way retroactive. We asked Sweden's migration minister Johan Forssell last week to respond to foreigners losing faith in Sweden because he wants the proposed stricter citizenship laws to apply retroactively to applications which have already been submitted. He retorted that this didn't qualify as retroactive. We wanted to check if he was right, so we spoke to three professors of constitutional or administrative law, one of whom said he was, and two of whom said he wasn't. Advertisement What else have we been writing about this week? The entire board of the failing battery company Northvolt resigned in the middle of the bankruptcy proceedings, which doesn't bode well for the future of the company. A government inquiry proposed surprisingly far-reaching reforms to Sweden's much-criticised free school system, although critics complained the changes would leave the worst aspects intact. We explained some of the most important proposals, and I looked at how it might affect the 2026 election. The head of Sweden's care worker union complained in an opinion piece that the proposed abolition of the 'track changes' system would have serious consequences for Swedish healthcare by forcing many essential workers to leave the country. It's Easter next weekend, so to help you plan we updated our list of what's open and what's closed in Sweden on different days of the holiday. If you're planning to use the week to see some new parts of Sweden, our readers had some excellent suggestions for spring getaways. Now I'll get back to my own spring getaway. It looks like I might make that crucial Hannover connection. See you after Easter! Did I mention that our word search this week has a special fika theme? Play here!
