October 2019 • SwedeInternational

31 Oct. – to be deported and yet not deported

scenes we won’t be seeing
pic: masterfile.com

In the spring of this year, Säpo, the Swedish security police, took 6 persons into custody claiming the right to do so under the Act on special alien control (lag om särskild utlänningskontroll). The six men are charged with being active in extremist Islamic circles, and are considered to be a threat to national security (DN.se/threat). Under this law, a person may be deported for these reasons. In order to do so, Säpo must ask the Migration Court (migrationsdomstolen) for permission.

Later this last summer, the Migration court agreed with Säpo’s reasoning, and agreed that they should be deported. (Not that they likely had so much to go on – for the court, the press, the police, as well as the persons charged, a lot of evidence is classified.) However, it wasn’t possible to put the deportation into effect because of the security situation in these persons’ countries. Both the persons in custody, and Säpo, appealed the decision, and it went to the government. Today, the government decided that yes, they should be deported – but they can’t be, because of another law: It is illegal to return or deport people to countries where they run the risk of the death penalty or of being tortured (SvD.se).

The Swedish justice system has no other alternative, in these circumstances, but to let these persons go free. They will be still suspect in Säpo’s eyes, and are are likely to be surveilled, but they are free to go back to their jobs – one as a school employee and others to their jobs as imams. Terror expert Magnus Ranstorp is quoted in DN as saying the government’s decision still sends a sharp signal: “They cannot get citizenship, and the day there is the possibility to deport them, they’ll be deported. They’ll have to report to the authorities and they won’t be able to leave the country. There will be severe limitations on what they can do.”

30 Oct. – no to IS families

For many people, Sweden’s inability, or unwillingness, to bring back to Sweden the children of Swedish citizens in refugee camps for IS-sympathizers has been slightly inexplicable. After all, if a determined grandfather can go in there and get out his 7 orphan grandchildren, surely the government of Sweden can rescue the others if they wanted to. They have said it’s complicated, but that they’re really trying (see this post).

In an interview with Dagens Nyheter, published yesterday in connection with the “Speaking memories – the Holocaust’s last witnesses” exhibition at the Swedish History Museum, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven made clear that he wasn’t interested in bringing back families.

To those who traveled to IS country, Löfven had this message – you must lie in the bed you made (stå din kast). “Clearly,” said Löfven, “they were attracted to a community – for some reason I can’t understand – in which they believed. I can’t answer for them, but the rest our society must condemn it. And those that went there, they have to accept the consequences for what they did. Some of them say they would now like to come home. No. They were advised not to travel there already in 2011, but they went anyway, and now they must live with the results of their actions. I can’t feel anything but disgust. Seriously. What IS did there… you can’t believe it’s true when you hear the stories that come from those who have survived. Sweden shall be something quite different.”

It’s not clear if Stefan Löfven was speaking as the leader of the Social Democratic party or for the government, but at least he staked out a clear position. Going forward, it’s still unclear as regards the children. Certainly, it’s hard to say that their staying in the camps is acting in accord with the child’s best interests – an otherwise governing principle in Swedish affairs and in the soon-to-be-Swedish-law Convention on the Rights of the Child. But keeping the child with a parent has been another governing principle, and one that the government has perhaps decided it wants to have come first this time. However clear Löfven might want to be, he’s still ducking this issue.

28 Oct. – lower speed limits coming

Attention speed freaks. DN reported today that speed limits on 111 Swedish miles of roads around the country will have reduced speed limits starting November 1 – or as soon as they get around to re-signing the roads. According to the Swedish Transport Administration (trafikverket), the measure will save 16 lives per year.

The changes are part of national overhaul of all the speed limits around the country. Between 2014 and 2025, the Transport Administration has plans to reduce the speed limit on 425 Swedish miles of road, and raise it on about 120 Swedish miles of road.

1 Swedish mile (mil) is equal to 10 kilometers. Roads will be signed with speed limits between 30 and 120, jumping at 10 kph intervals.

The Swedish Transport Administration has a zero-vision for traffic fatalities, and research says reducing the speed limit reduces deaths. The maximum speed where two cars can collide without “serious consequences,” DN reports, is 80 km/hour – at this speed, the risk of a fatality is 40%. Most roads that do not have a divider will have a speed limit of 80 kph.

How much longer will it take to get somewhere? Technically, and with all other things being equal, travel time increases 50 seconds for every ten kilometers when traveling at 80 kph instead of 90. What does that mean? Countcalculate.com shows that a 300 km trip, at 80 kph instead of 90, will take 25 minutes longer.

25 minutes can be either a blink of an eye or an eternity, and nothing is ever ”all other things being equal.” Whatever the circumstances, says Sandra Nordahl at the Transport Administration, ”a driver must check the signs and follow traffic regulations.”

25 Oct. – court says no incitement to racial hatred

NMR march and protest Göteborg 2017
pic: Roger Turesson (DN.se)

Ten members of the neo-nazi Nordic resistance movement group (Nordic motståndsrörelsen, NMR) were today pronounced not guilty of incitement to racial hatred (hets mot folkgrupp) in court in Göteborg. Five of the charged were convicted of violent rioting.

The indictments stemmed from the protests surrounding the book expo in Göteborg in 2017, during which there were protests both at the presence of an extreme right-wing publication that was being allowed to display at the expo, and at a march by the NMR directly by the book expo. Many NMR activists protested the protest, leading to clashes.

The court case did not just try to convict NMR members for being violent, but also for inciting racial hatred. In particular, the prosecutors argued that their bearing of the symbol of an arrow called the tyrrunan – or “the symbol of Tyr” who was a minor god in Nordic mythology – that is a sign of NMR membership, along with their otherwise distinctive style of clothing, their speech, and their slogans, together comprise the concept incitement to racial hatred. In lead prosecutor Jonas Martinsson’s argument, these circumstances together were enough and at least equal to the usual requirement for incitement which is generally a specific racist comment or publication (SvD.se/hets).

The court disagreed, stating that the demonstrators’ collected expressions were not of a kind that clearly expressed a connection to national socialist movements during the 1930s and 1940s. To publicly express membership in, or sympathy with, NMR, can not be considered incitement to racial hatred, the court stated in a press release (DN.se/hets).

Commentators have suggested that it isn’t too surprising that at this lower level a court will find similarly to earlier cases. For example, in a court case from 2018, the prosecution tried to link the tyrrunan arrow symbol to the Nazi movement, but didn’t succeed. As opposed to the swastika, the court said then, the arrow symbol was not “generally known as being connected” to the national socialist movement. Nor had the prosecution made that particular argument, the court stated. Therefore the posters bearing the arrow symbol could not be considered incitement to racial hatred (SvD.se/symbol). It is possible that this was one case that the court had in mind.

Prosecutor Martinsson said that it’s very likely they will appeal. Hopes are not only to get a different result but also to expand the definition of incitement to include how many people experience it.

24 Oct. – a little thing called the repo rate

houses breathing a sigh of relief
pic: booli.com

The news from the Swedish Central Bank (riksbanken) today was expected, but was still good to know: the repo rate (styrräntan) will remain the same at -0.25 percent.

The central bank has kept the repo rate at extremely, abnormally low levels (like, below zero levels) in an effort to bring up inflation. The extremely, abnormally weak krona has been one result of this policy. In their statement today, the central bank wrote that there are signs of a slowdown after the past several years of a strong economy, which they’re calling returning to a “more normal” level. Inflation hasn’t been as high as they would have liked, they said, but, they don’t expect it to change much in the next year either. So, all in all, they’re not changing the repo rate.

What was good about the decision was that the board on the central bank was unanimous, and this is always good for financial markets. Keeping it at the same rate meant no surprises, nasty or otherwise, and this is always good for financial markets. Financial markets like stability. What was a bit of a surprise though, was that they said they might just raise the rate to zero percent in December, even though the economy is not at all expected to pick up.

The krona went a little bananas in response, but then didn’t close so much differently than it did yesterday.

The repo rate is that rate at which the central bank lends money to the country’s major banks. It also dramatically affects the interest rate that the banks pass on to regular loan-seekers. If the repo rent goes up, you can count on the interest rate on your loan going up. Suddenly higher interest rates can make people get scared and retrench, stores go out of business, people lose jobs, the economy dips or crashes, you get the picture. The repo rate is big news.

23 Oct. – living longer working longer

working hard working longer
pic: corren.se

We’re living longer, so we have to work longer. That’s the story from the Swedish Pensions Agency (pensionsmyndigheten). As of January 1, 2020, one has to have turned at least 62 to collect your pension from the state. By 2026, the age from which you can collect your state pension will be 64. After 2026, the retirement age will strictly follow average life expectancy. For those who were born in 1963, the earliest you can get your general pension will be when you turn 64. But to get your guaranteed pension (guarantipension), and the housing subsidy if needed (bostadstillägg), you have to wait until you are 67. Different numbers will almost certainly apply for those born after 1963.

The age at which you can take out the general pension, or take out your guaranteed pension and housing subsidy, is going to be directly connected to average life expectancy. This age is going to be called something like “age benchmark” – riktålder in Swedish. This means that as we live longer in the future the earliest one can take out the general pension, guaranteed pension or housing subsidy will also be equivalently later.

The age benchmark (this is what I’m calling it for lack of an official translation) will be set yearly and start to be used six years later. It can not be changed for three years.

In 2026, when the age benchmark will begin to be used, the lowest age to take out the general pension will be three years before the age benchmark. The age benchmark will likely be 67 in 2026, which makes age 64 the earliest you can take out the general pension. There are also other suggestions in the works that would create “bridges” to this pretty drastic change in the pension system.

This is complicated stuff, and the whole thing with “age benchmarks” is entirely new. For people who had already begun planning for retirement it can mean a whole new ball game. In 2023 though, you’ll also be allowed to work until you’re 69 – so that’s an upside, right? You can even work longer if your employer is good with it, although exceptions may apply depending on your union.

(Most of this information was taken from pensionsmyndigheten.se. Check it out for more information.)

Not everybody thinks this particular plan is great, although everyone agrees that the formal retirement age really had to be raised because of longer life expectancy. Still, people with physically demanding jobs can have a worse time of it, and the age discrimination that is already well documented will not get any better. Many people have trouble keeping their jobs even now.

“It’s not so easy to just raise the retirement age” Kristina Kamp, a pension economist at the website Min Pension (my pension) pointed out. “You also need acceptance of the fact that more older people will keep working. We’re already talking about age discrimination. It’s going to be interesting to see how the job market will handle these new numbers…” Kamp also pointed out that company retirement plans are not at all synced with the numbers the government has decided on (SvD.se/pension).

These changes will likely lead to further developments in the amount of money that is automatically put aside for your pension from your paycheck, but those ideas are not yet fully worked out. With the interest levels where they’re at, saving for retirement in a bank account is not so rewarding either. This blog, sadly, has no advice for the pecuniarily anxious.

22 Oct. – eavesdropping police

fighting crime one mobile at a time
pic: tidbits.com

Measures to fight the rising crime rate in Sweden have been mentioned in this blog before. It’s been a month now since multi-party talks on crime fighting initiatives failed (see this post) and the Social Democrats, Green, and Center parties went out with their own 34-point to-do list. Today, the first (and as of yet, the only one) of these measures is ready to be sent out for comments (remissvar).

This first measure out concerns making it easier for the police to plant programs on private mobile telephones. The programs would allow them to decrypt text messages sent on the mobile and listen in on conversations. In some cases, they will even be able to control the mobile phone’s camera and microphone. It will not be allowed, however, to implant these programs in phones belonging to people in some professions, like doctors, journalists and lawyers.

This measure is not going to be widely used, Minister for Home Affairs Mikael Damberg was careful to point out. It will only be used in cases of “serious criminality” (allvarlig brottslighet). “This is what the police and prosecutor have wanted almost the most” he said (DN.se/avlyssning).

The Moderate party was positive to this measure, saying it’s what they’ve wanted ever since the beginning. In fact, they would have liked to see an even stronger list of measures, that would actually “break the pattern and make a difference” said John Forsell, Moderate party spokesperson (DN.se/avlyssning).

Assuming the comments from the various review committees are positive, the new law is meant to go into effect March 1, 2020.

21 Oct. – What’s in a name

Mind if we call you Bruce?
pic: joylangenburg,com

J and Ford. These are the names that are currently before the supreme administrative court (Högsta förvaltningsdomstolen). Two pairs of Swedish parents wanted to name their respective child these names, but were denied.

The name law (and oh yes, there’s not only a name law but a new name law as of 2017), lists the following reasons for denying parents permission to name a child what they want:

The name can cause offence (väcka anstöt)
The name can be uncomfortable for the child to bear (leda till obehag)
The name can, for some other reason, be inappropriate as a first name ( av någon annan anledning vara olämpligt som förnamn) (Riksdagen.se/namelaw)

In the name law from 1982, a name couldn’t be “clearly inappropriate” (uppenbarligt olämpligt). In 2017, it was changed to just “inappropriate” – much more stringent, but also much more vague.

In one case up before the court, the parents want one of their son’s three first names to be J. They argue that their older son already has that name, and that the letter J has a special significance for them. Two earlier judgments gave the parents the OK, in particular because names with single letters already exist in Sweden, and because the administrative court (förvaltningsdomstolen) had earlier gone along with both “Q” and “A-C” as names. However, the Swedish Tax Agency (skatteverket) said no. According to Anna Ljungberg, a legal expert at skatteverket, there is a risk that people think the one initial is short for a longer name, and that therefore just “J” is misleading.

In the second case up before the court, the parents want to name their child Ford – as in Harrison, or the car maker. Apparently, the name comes from their Canadian side of the family, and there are already 30-odd people in Sweden that have that name. But, again, the Swedish Tax Agency is saying no – arguing that it’s confusingly similar to a last name, plus, it’s not a traditional Swedish name (Svd.se/namelaw).

According to SvD, someone apparently tried at one time to name their kid “Superfastjellyfish” but also got a no (Svd.se/namelaw).

It’s possible that might have been pushing it a bit. The new law did lighten up on some things however. Among other things, it made it easier to change one’s name, to change your name more than once, and to have a double last name (DN.se/namelaw).

This more modern law indicated that perhaps rules and traditions about names could stand loosening up, but skatteverket has decided perhaps, that enough is enough, and wants a decision from the court to clarify things. The decision on both these names is due very soon.

Oct. 20 – yes we have no syringes

no planned surgeries
pic: sverigesradio.se

A half dozen hospitals throughout Sweden remain at crisis levels (stabsläge) through the weekend and at least through Monday, as basic supplies have still not been delivered. Crisis level has meant that scheduled operations have been put on hold for the time being, in order to ensure the availability of supplies for critical and emergency operations. The basic supplies that have particularly been delayed are such items as syringes, washcloths and needles.

Currently, hospitals in Västmanland, as well as others in the regions of Örebro, Uppsala and Dalarna, have rescheduled all planned surgeries. Almost a hundred operations at Uppsala hospital, and 42 operations in Dalarna, have been postponed (SvD.se/hospitals). Not all hospitals have been affected however, such as at Akademiska Hospital in Uppsala. As Margareta Sandback, the admin in charge of supplies there, who made sure there wasn’t a shortage, put it: “I’ve been here before” (Svenska Dagbladet, Oct. 20, p. 2).

Other hospitals and admins were completely taken by surprise. On October 1, the company in charge of delivering supplies to hospitals changed from Mediq to Apotekstjänst. Apotekstjänst has explained that they were taken aback by the number or orders that came in, and added that the hospitals must have been low on supplies to begin with (DN.se/hospitals).

Hospitals have been reaching out to the previous company Mediq as well as other suppliers, looking to shore up their stocks. Meanwhile, a committee has been formed to look in to creating some sort of supply warehouse to increase preparedness “There hasn’t been an economic possibility for this earlier” said Mikael Köhler, chief surgeon at Akademiska Hospital (DN.se/hospitals).

Of course, questions arise as to whose head should roll. Lawyers (jurister) at Region Uppsala are looking into it, but insist that they are not looking to sue or to change companies. “Maybe later we can look at who’s right or who’s wrong,” said Anne Nilsson, head counsel, “but right now it’s about getting supplies” (DN.se/hospitals).

updated: Although Akademiska Hospital in Uppsala previously had no trouble with supplies, by Tuesday morning they had had to reschedule a whole lot of operations – SvD must have gotten that wrong. In more news on this topic, the CEO for Apoteksstjänst – the company which has not delivered, in more ways than one – resigned on Monday. It hasn’t helped a bit.

19 Oct. – counting the weeks

counting the weeks
pic: courtnewsohio.gov

Abortion and the Sweden Democrats – in the same post. Read on.

Here are the basics for Sweden: abortions are free, it’s the woman who decides, and up to and including the 18th week of pregnancy, a woman doesn’t have to say why or who or what or anything at all about her reasons for asking for an abortion. After that, there have to be reasons for not carrying to term, which have to be articulated to, or by, the National Board of Health and Welfare (socialstyrelsen). After 21 weeks and 6 days, the window for abortion is closed: After this date, a foetus is considered viable outside the womb. In very very few and drastic cases, there are abortions after this date. For those who don’t know, a pregnancy is about 40 weeks long.

Up until just now, the Sweden Democrats party has had a party platform advocating a 12 week limit for free and unquestioned abortions, instead of the current 18 week restriction. 12 weeks is, frankly, barely long enough to even think one might be pregnant, and to take a test to find out at home in one’s bathroom – let alone schedule a clinic visit.

After a slew of letters sent in to the party’s headquarters making a motion for a change, Jimmie Åkesson, Sweden Democrats’ party leader, announced that they will no longer have the 12-week limit in their party program. In his words: “We put together a group to look at this question, and they’ve come to the same conclusion: If the goal is to reduce the number of abortions, even down to the Nordic levels, it’s not laws there are going to get us there and definitely not discussions on when it’s legal to terminate a pregnancy.” “Not even with the current reach of medicine is a foetus viable outside the womb before 18 weeks, Åkesson said, so there’s no reason to change the 18 week ceiling” (DN.se/pregnancy). It is not a coincidence that Åkesson announced this at a meeting of female SD party members in Norrköping.

Is it the influx of women in their ranks that have made them go up a grade on the enlightenment scale? Or is it just a measure to increase their popularity outside of their faithful rank and file – making themselves more palatable, perhaps, to the greater Swedish population? It isn’t a bad position to have come to, by any means, and welcome. But with all political ideas that change quite drastically, it’s wise to question how deep the conviction goes before trusting it with one’s own body.