Category Archives: Sweden

Most Swedes think integration issues are a ‘problem’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Three of four Swedes consider issues which address integration and immigration to be a contemporary Swedish problem, with four in ten sceptical of the experts on the issue, a new survey published on Tuesday shows.

“Xenophobia and democracy issues have come into focus with the Sweden Democrats’ (SD) entry into Sweden’s Riksdag,” wrote Camilla Modéer, secretary-general of Public & Science (Vetenskap & Allmänhet – VA), with Arne Modig from Novus Opinion, in an opinion article in the Dagens Nyheter daily on Tuesday.

The survey shows that 74 percent of the 1,000 Swedes interviewed believe that experts and scholars hold the necessary knowledge to handle the issues of immigration and integration “in a positive way”. However, four in ten respondents remained skeptical of how accurately the picture presented by experts meshes with reality.

The subset of respondents who believe that integration and immigration is a large problem were more likely to be suspicious of experts, with 65 percent questioning the accuracy of findings presented by experts. Among respondents who identified themselves as supporters of the Sweden Democrats, mistrust of experts rose to 90 percent, according to the survey.

The Local, 13 October 2010

Stockholm: thousands protest against Sweden Democrats

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Demonstration against Sweden Democrats

Over 4,000 people gathered in central Stockholm on Monday to demonstrate for diversity and against racism, with the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats in focus as the party took its place in parliament for the first time.

The demonstrators gathered on Sergels Torg in central Stockholm to listen to speeches and then began a march towards Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag, on Myntorget.

Behind the demonstration were the anti-racism groups the “September Alliance”, Stockholm’s anti-racist culture association, and various Facebook groups, with speeches held by, among others, Left Party leader Lars Ohly.

Similar, if smaller, demonstrations were held across the country on Monday evening.

The demonstration was a repeat of the massive spontaneous turnout on the day after the Swedish general election, which left the Sweden Democrats with 5.7 percent of the vote and 20 seats in parliament.

The Local, 5 October 2010

See also EuroNews, 5 October 2010

Trade unions to freeze out Sweden Democrats

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Active Sweden Democrats will not be allowed to be members in one of Sweden’s main healthcare professionals unions, the chair of the labour group said on Wednesday.

“To be a nurse or a midwife is based on protecting people’s rights and equal value. You have to reflect on the fact that perhaps not everyone fulfills those guidelines,” Anna-Karin Eklund, chair of the Swedish Association of Health Professionals (Vårdförbundet) to the TT news agency.

According to a report in the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper, several labour groups are exploring various ways to shut Sweden Democrats out of their activities.

An elected member of the IF Metall industrial union is set to have his membership in the union put under review after he ran as a Sweden Democrat and won a seat on a municipal council. “The Sweden Democrats’ ideas stand in conflict with everything we stand for, but you can’t just throw them out automatically,” said IF Metall’s vice chair Anders Ferbe to DN.

The Swedish Transport Workers union (TransPort), which is part of LO, Sweden’s largest trade union confederation, has also given Sweden Democrats the cold shoulder. “We exclude active Sweden Democrats from membership. Their ideas aren’t compatible with our statutes and the fact that they’ve gotten some kind of legitimacy by getting elected to the Riksdag and local councils doesn’t matter,” said TransPort’s third vice-chair Martin Viredius to DN.

SKTF, a union representing salaried employees in the public sector, has previously made it clear that active Sweden Democrats cannot hold elected leadership positions within the union.

The Local, 29 September 2010

Thousands protest against Sweden Democrats

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Protest against Sweden Democrats

Thousands of people gathered in a central Stockholm square Monday evening to protest against a far-right party that has been voted into parliament, waving banners and shouting “No to racism!”

At around 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) some 6,000 people, some waving banners stating “Yes to togetherness, No to racism” and “No racists in parliament,” gathered in Stockholm’s Sergels Torg, according to a police estimate.

The peaceful gathering was spontaneously organized by a 17-year-old girl from the Stockholm suburb of Sollentuna, Felicia Margineanu, who was so disappointed by the election results she posted a protest call on her Facebook page, the Expressen daily reported.

“We don’t like those racists in the Riksdag. Being here shows the government that we care, that we don’t want them [the Sweden Democrats] in parliament,” said 18-year-old Younes Sedik, wearing a black T-shirt with orange lettering stating “I’m a Muslim. Don’t panic!”

Standing near banners pointing out that “9,043,222 Swedes did not vote for the Sweden Democrats yesterday,” and that “94.3% of the people are not racists,” 21-year-old Thomas Zebuehr said he was “really unhappy” the far-right passed the four-percent barrier for entering parliament.

A spontaneous demonstration against the Sweden Democrats also gathered in Sweden’s second largest city Gothenburg Monday evening, with up to 1,000 people participating, the TT news agency reported.

Another large demonstration is planned to be held in Stockholm on October 4.

National Post, 20 September 2010

Sweden Democrat’s swastika wound ‘probably self-inflicted’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A forensic medical report has contradicted claims by a Sweden Democrat politician that he was attacked in his home by two masked men who carved a swastika into his forehead.

According to the report, there are strong indications that Malmö council candidate David von Arnold Antoni may have inflicted the wound on himself, casting doubt on his claims to have been pinned to the floor by two “Arab-sounding” men.

A medical examiner concluded that “the position and appearance of the injury provide strong indications that it was self-inflicted,” local newspaper Sydsvenskan reports.

The medical examiner said there was a 90 percent likelihood the story was a hoax, a source close to the investigation told Sydsvenskan.

Antoni is now being investigated for providing a false account of events after police also failed to find any evidence of intruders in his home. The politician denies concocting the story and inflicting the wound on himself.

Sweden Democrat party leader Jimmie Åkesson wrote an open letter on September 13th in a bid to highlight “the violence perpetrated by the extreme left.” He described the purported assault on Antoni as “one of the worst political acts our country has seen in modern times”.

The Local, 19 September 2010

Update:  Not that this revelation bothers Pamela Geller. Cf. “Swedish Democrat politician tortured by Muslims: swastika cut into his forehead”, Atlas Shrugs, 30 September 2014

Swedish elections: narrow victory for right-wing alliance, Sweden Democrats enter parliament

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jimmie Akesson celebrates
Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson celebrates

Sweden’s governing centre-right alliance has been re-elected, but may be short of an overall majority, official preliminary results show.

According to the figures, PM Fredrik Reinfeldt’s four-party coalition has won 173 seats out of 349 in parliament.

The far-right Sweden Democrats are said to have gained more than 4% of the vote, enabling them to enter parliament for the first time.

Mr Reinfeldt said previously he did not want to speculate on how his Alliance for Sweden coalition would deal with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats if they got into parliament.

BBC News, 19 September 2010

See also “Sweden Democrats savour parliament entry”, The Local, 19 September 2010

The Sweden Democrats have got 5.7% of the vote and 20 MPs.

Sweden Democrat deputy leader warns of Islamic revolution … in Sweden

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Björn SöderAn Islamic revolution akin to the one that swept through Iran in 1979 could easily take place in Sweden, claims the second highest ranking member of the far-right Sweden Democrats. “It can happen really fast,” said Sweden Democrat party secretary Björn Söder to the TT news agency.

Söder is number two behind party leader Jimmie Åkesson on the Sweden Democrat party list. As party secretary, his role is to stake out the party’s line on key issues.

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Danish People’s Party leader joins Sweden Democrats’ campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pia Kjærsgaard DFPia Kjærsgaard, the leader for the Danish People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti – DF) has accepted an invitation from the far-right Sweden Democrats to take part in an election rally in Högänäs in southern Sweden on Saturday.

Kjærsgaard whose national conservative party has supported the Danish governing coalition of Liberal and Conservative parties since 2001, plans to visit Sweden to “experience the conditions of a Sweden election and to talk about democracy and freedom of speech”, according to a party statement.

Kjærsgaard made headlines in some Danish and Swedish media when she criticised the Swedish press for “acting as if they were in a banana republic” following the refusal of broadcaster TV4 to send an election campaign film by the Sweden Democrats.

The controversial Danish politician does not make a habit of taking part in election campaigns in foreign countries and has previously resisted several pleas from the Sweden Democrats for help. “Mona Sahlin has demonised the Danish People’s Party,” said DF’s press spokesperson Søren Søndergaard to news agency TT, by way of explanation for Kjærsgaard’s change of stance.

Social Democrat leader Mona Sahlin is on record as saying Sweden risks going down Denmark’s path if SD get into Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag, when the votes are counted on September 19th.

While DF do not hold any cabinet posts the party enjoys a close cooperation with the government parties on most issues, and has pushed through a restrictive policy line towards immigrants and potential refugees. The party claimed 13.9 percent of the votes in the 2007 parliamentary elections after a dramatic rise in support following the Muhammad cartoons controversy in 2006.

The Local, 10 September 2010

See also “UN says party made racist remarks”, Copenhagen Post, 9 September 2010