July 2019 • Page 5 of 5 • SwedeInternational

24 June – Shall the games here begin?

Today we find out if Sweden or Italy will host the 2026 winter Olympics – an Olympics we are told will not cost Swedish taxpayers a single little krona! It will be entirely financed to the max by sponsors! So great for Sweden on all fronts! Sounds too good to be true!

Even the Olympic Committee itself criticized Sweden for its budget analysis.

While there is no doubt that an Olympics in town (actually several towns and even Latvia) would be exciting, how exciting is it afterwards? Ask Falun with its two jump runs built for the 2015 World Cup that now stand almost entirely unused (dn.se). That can’t be fun to look at.

It’s not in the public’s hands, however, and we’re split on the issue anyway. If it’s to be, let’s hope we can scratch together more enthusiasm.

23 June – I don’t like it and I won’t do it

Sabuni won the majority of votes in several heavy districts throughout Sweden – but some voters’ representatives are saying they will not vote the same way.

11 ”ombudsmän” published a debate article in the afternoon paper Expressen yesterday stating that despite how their party members may have voted, they intend to vote for Eric Ullenhag as next Liberal Party leader. They must represent, they write, not just the party menbers who voted but also non-voting party members, non party members who have a liberal bent, as well as ”in the end, Sweden’s entire population” (Expressen.se).

Good of them. Saving the whole of Sweden like that, solving the problem of people not voting the way they should, saving the people from themselves.

While the representatives with a binding vote are not bound to vote the way their districts have voted, there is an understanding that they are to further that will. That these representatives have decided not to do that can only indicate an enormous hubris, paired with a misunderstanding of their job. The Liberal Party isn’t their sandbox.

22 June – Paying for money

DN.se reports that major banks in Sweden will be required to maintain cash transaction possibilities at bank locations throughout the country. Specifically, at most only 0.3% of the population will have to travel more than 25 km to get cash, and not more than 1.22% of the population will have to travel more than 25 km to be able to make a cash deposit.

Naturally, the banks are not pleased. So expensive for them! Look for fees on taking out money at an ATM near you soon.

21 June – EU nod to climate

*Ed. note: correction! The EU meeting mentioned below is still going on. Löfven, again, won’t make it home for Midsommar celebrations aka the biggest and arguably most important holiday in Sweden.

Stefan Löfven must have been glad to be back in Sweden for its holiday – for many years the EU ignored Sweden entirely and set up its top leadership summit on Midsummer exactly. This year though, it was yesterday. Löfven wasn’t able to come home to Sweden with much accomplished though. The Swedish aim is a climate neutral Europe by 2050, but the resulting agreed upon text says merely that the EU will be climate neutral according to the Paris Agreement and then, in a footnote according to DN.se, it states that for many EU countries this means 2050.

Not a power mission statement iow, but certainly better than nothing. A strong – and binding- statement is scary for countries like Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary inter alia who fear environmental regulations will negatively affect jobs and growth. You have to respect that worry too.

19 June – Can he stay or should he go

The Swedish supreme court is currently considering a case regarding the possible extradition of a Chinese citizen back to China. The man, allegedly a participant in the Tiananmen uprising in 1990 but since then also a civil servant in the Chinese government, fled to Sweden in 2014 (apparently under another name), married and has lived at a variety of addresses in Sweden since 2015. The Chinese government was and is after him for embezzlement to the tune of a hundred million kronor, give or take, from when he was a boss at a state-owned Chinese company.

Whether or not he is a criminal to the nth degree or not is, however, not the case before the court. Instead, the court is deciding whether or not he can be guaranteed a fair trial (read free from torture, at a minimum) in China.

Chances are the court says no, because the man has today been released from custody pending the court’s verdict in a couple weeks.

18 June – Strange comparisons

”We’re not Baghdad Bob” reports one of SvD’s sources regarding the supposedly strong – but, alas, somewhat undocumented – support that Eric Ullenhag has from Liberal Party members around the country. (I don’t know how, but this person is connecting support for Ullenhag with Saddam Hussein’s spokesperson during the Gulf War in the early 90’s. Can you?) Even if todays’s vote in Stockholm throws its weight behind Ullenhag it isn’t enough to topple Sabuni – unless of course, the delegates disregard their district’s votes. (In which case the list of problems within the Liberal Party would get a lot larger.) This should be unlikely though, really. Ullenhag will likely go back to Amman, and everyone gets to adjust to a new (interesting and exciting in this writer’s opinion) political reality in this little pond of Sweden

7 June – Royalty IRL

This time up is Princess Madeleine who debuts as a children’s book author. Not alone, of course, but backed up by an old personal friend as well as someone who actually is a successful chuldren’s book author, Marie Oskarsson. Previously, her brother Prince Philip has tried to find some niche he could call his own, both car racing and as fireplace irons-designer. Sadly, as seems to be the case with Madeleine’s book, the result is, well, one might say that you can’t say enough good things about it. Or even one or two good things about it.

That Sweden has a royal house at all is as everyone knows one of the most flagrant ridiculousnesses in Sweden. Attempts at a real life by the kids are commendable, perhaps, but, like always, the heavy lifting is done by others.

6 June Wave that flag

It’s a little embarassing that Sweden’s national day had to be patched together from different historical events (none of which were really particularly memorable on their own) to make a holiday that no one particularly asked for. But the idea finally seems to be taking off. Heja Sverige – way to go Sweden!

Today is also the anniversary of D-day, 1944. One can argue as to which is more important these days, but one can’t argue that Sweden played any role in Europe’s liberation.

Not since 2001 have Denmark, Sweden and Finland all had a Social Democratic government. Denmark’s looks a lot different than Sweden’s though, so in practice there may not be a lot of hugs and back-slapping happening at their next meeting. Still, the nordic countries (don’t say Scandinavian!) do put some stock in their common history, political history and location. One can say there’s a bit of a ”special relationship” between them – only across a smaller pond.

5 June: The shaking jowls of Stefan Löfven

Löfven took the defensive again in yesterday’s press conference explaining that the Committee of the Constitution’s (KU’s) conclusions backed the government’s position that it has the right to hire and fire general directors. Which no one had contested. What he didn’t address was that the Committee had severely criticised the manner in which Social Secretary Annika Strandhäll (”beachslab”) fired Försäkringskassan’s general director Ann Begler way back in April. Begler had followed instructions from the (same) government to get the number of people getting finanacial support from public funds down, and she’d done a good job of it too.
Too bad that to get those numbers down, some people had to get a No on their request for money – which made them unhappy, and vocal about it. Not good in an election year, and Begler had to go. She too was vocal about that decision, and yesterday the KU backed her – you can’t just get kicked the way she was and you certainly can’t say, as Strandhäll did, that ”oh, this was mutual and everyone knew it was in the works la-ti-da”. Instead, this was a serious example of a government minister exceeding her power limits.

Since the Center Party took themselves out of the no-confidence vote on Strandhäll, which was initiated by the Moderates only last week, Strandhäll remains in her position and only slightly tweaked. If she is indeed going to keep her position as one of Lofven’s chosen few she might do well to harden those hurt puppy-dog eyes a bit. Maybe even take to some indignant jowl-shaking like her boss.