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INSIDE SWEDEN: Why foreigners in Sweden should get engaged in unions

Hej alla! Some time last year, I put myself forward as a delegate for the Congress of the Swedish Union of Journalists, which is held about every third year, and unexpectedly got selected (I have no idea who voted for me apart from my colleagues at The Local). So last week, I spent three days at a conference hotel in Saltsjöbaden, outside Stockholm, helping in my very small way to set a future course for the union. It could be agonising listening to the same speakers make submission after submission on the same question over and over again. It could be exhausting, returning at 8pm to grind through point after point until half past 10 at night. It was disappointing to watch as the other delegates voted down all three of the proposals I'd been most rooting for. But it was also inspiring and something I would highly recommend any foreigner living in Sweden to do if the opportunity comes up. Congresses like this, where the members of unions, sports federations or campaign organisations agree on future priorities and hold the boards to account, are the foundation of Sweden as a society. The meeting's chair kept a god stämning, or good atmosphere, despite two or three awkward characters who took up far more than their fair share of time. Engaged members who had fought for months to get proposals they really believed in onto the agenda showed extraordinary grace when they were then rejected by the other delegates. And it was wonderful to meet 91 journalists from across the country, all of them passionate about the profession and willing to put in the time to defend it and its practitioners. I thought of all the other congresses held across the country, going back for more than a hundred years, of the countless meetings of unions, sports federations, campaign groups, each of them making hundreds of decisions which together have led to so much of what is great about this country today. If you want to be part of Sweden, get involved. Fika calendar This was the peak week for Swedish fika, including both Fettisdagen (Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras) and fössta tossdan i mass, or "The first Thursday in March", when people in Småland traditionally eat marzipan cakes. So it was only natural to choose it for the launch of the Local's new Fika Calendar. We had a dive into the history behind Semlor, the creamy, marzipan bun that sends Swedes crazy and an explanation of the humour behind the marzipan cake tradition. Readers who share Becky's obsession with Swedish cakes and patisserie in all their forms, and want regular updates, can sign up for the new Fika Calendar here. What else has been in the news? The shockwaves from the bullying treatment of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on February 28th were felt in Sweden, as elsewhere in Europe, throughout the week. After attending a summit in London on March 2nd, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden would be willing to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal. Sweden announced that it was sending Gripen jets to Poland to help patrol their airspace. We put together an explainer on how Sweden's defence industry is ramping up to help Europe's rearmament. It wasn't just US President Donald Trump increasing the sense of insecurity in Sweden. Police in Gotland launched a sabotage probe after the pumps suppling the island's water supply were damaged. There was bad news for inflation, with prices rising for the second month in a row, making further cuts to the interest rate in the near term unlikely. Mortgage providers aren't cutting their rates to fully reflect the lower interest rates set by Sweden's central bank, leading Sweden's Financial Supervisory Authority to advise borrowers to actively seek to renegotiate their mortgages. We explained how to move your mortgage to another bank if they don't cut your rate. We looked at what DIY work you are allowed to carry out yourself in Sweden and what requires a professional. The Confederation of Industry has carried out a new analysis, estimating that increasing the work permit salary threshold to 100 percent of the median salary in Sweden, would cost the economy 30 billion kronor. I spoke to parents of pupils at Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet Södermalm (IEGS), who expressed their anger at the way the IES school chain has handled the closure of the school, taking in pupils last autumn only to leave them stranded, without a school in which to finish their educations. There's sun and blue skies outside my window and I'm looking forward to getting outside into the weather, that down here in Skåne at least, is feeling increasingly spring-like. What do you love most about spring in Sweden? Tell us in our survey here. Thanks for reading, Richard Orange Nordic Editor, The Local