pic: Henrik Montgomery/TT
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven held his Christmas speech today in the ruins of the Church of St. Nicholas in Visby, on the island of Gotland. The church was part of a Dominican monastery built in the 1230s, and was burnt down in 1525 by an army from Lübeck. It is unclear why the speech was held just here, but there was at least fika and a mingle in the ruins before the speech.
Löfven spoke of how the season is representative of something bigger – of caring, and of not being indifferent to how others in society are faring. “When colleagues are chatting about how stressful it is to buy presents, others are wondering how in the world there will be money to buy even a single present to put under the tree for the kids” Löfven said. “That – sickness, loneliness, and poverty – can never be reduced to being one person’s problem. It is our collective responsibility.”
Löfven also threw in a note of thanks to the police and nurses who will be working during the holiday. “Many of us can be relatively free over the holidays, while nurses and the police continue working. They celebrate without their families so that we can be secure while celebrating with ours.”
A few pointed political comments were also thrown in, in a change from last year’s speech. Regarding the challenges forming a government after the results of the 2018 election, Löfven exclaimed that “We still succeeded in building a government led by the Social Democrats. Not least after brave decisions by the Center and Liberal parties, who chose to stand on the right side of history.”
Löfven also pointed a finger at the Moderate party leader Ulf Kristersson, SvD reports, saying that he had betrayed his promise not to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats: Kristersson only said that to keep the old Alliance parties together, Löfven claimed. It was also, Löfven expounded, “morally reprehensible” to have said to a Holocaust survivor that they would not cooperate with SD, and the turn around and do it” speaking of Kristersson’s meeting with Hédi Fried in June of 2018, and then his lunch with Jimmie Åkesson earlier this month.
Löfven also spoke the need for fast integration, and about the fight against crime. “Crime doesn’t have anything to do with the color of one’s skin or one’s religion, but with social class (samhällsklass) and a feeling of community (gemenskap).”
He also promised more money would be coming to the municipalities around Sweden. “We will not desert any municipality, any region, any part of the country. This means that we need to hold together” (SvD.se/julspeech).