svensk politik Archives • SwedeInternational

There once were four small parties

Voters aren’t leaving small parties in droves, but they’re leaving. Statistics Sweden published the results of its annual survey the other day. If the election had taken place last month, the changes would have been mostly small, yet decisive. Three big parties remain big, and the Left Party is holding relatively strong. However, there are now four parties bobbing around the 4% required percentage to gain a seat in parliament. The small parties often make up the crucial votes that decide a block’s victory or loss. Why have their voters left them?

Rally round the flag

For some commentators, the reason is the behemoth quality of major parties – the closer you stand the more likely you’ll be crushed. The smaller, supportive parties who help form a government are often overshadowed, and their separate, political identities dissipate. Another reason might be the tendency to “rally around the flag.” When things seem shaky and the times are uncertain, it feels safer to seek shelter in something or someone bigger. Finally, since the Social Democrats in particular have surged ahead in popularity it could be voters blaming the government for the mess in the world (or for making it worse).

One response to dissatisfaction can be to form your own party. You wouldn’t be alone.

Form your own party!

There are 107 parties to choose from registered in Sweden for the 2024 election to the European Union parliament. These include the Evil Chicken Party (Ond Kyckling Partiet), the Least Awful party (det minst dåliga partiet), and the Chill party (Chillpartiet). The requirements to register a party in Sweden are few: At least one person to be the party, between 50 and 1500 signatures (depending on the post to which the person wants to be elected), and navigating a minimum of red tape.

In a democratic sense, it’s important to have the freedom to create a political party. Small parties capture people’s interest and can encourage interest in the political process. They can give marginalized people a chance for broader recognition, and can expand a national and/or local political discourse. Perhaps the four above parties have failed in those efforts.

The Evil Chicken Party’s platform calls for a lower parliamentary threshold. They might get some unexpected support.

Gods and guns

On allemansrätten – the right to roam

**Something you don’t see in Sweden very much. If at all.**
*image source: www.emedco.com*

One of the best things about Sweden is the ability to wander around freely in the woods, fields, and waterways. These places are open to everyone thanks to allemansrätten. Allemansrätten is translated as the right of public access, but there are other inherent meanings. “Everyman’s right,” “freedom to roam,” and “right to roam” are a few.

Don’t disturb, don’t destroy

The concept allemansrätten is first found in the report of a commission on leisure activity in the late 1930s. The purpose of the commission was to find ways to make it easier for city dwellers to get out into nature more often.

Later in 1994, it was written into law that “every man should have access to nature in accordance with the right to roam.” The right itself, however, was never clearly defined. It is more a negative right, meaning you can mostly wander where you will as long as you “don’t disturb and don’t destroy.”

The right to roam has deep roots. Much of the romantic soul of Sweden is embodied in the majesty of the forest and in the wealth of mushrooms and berries found there. Walking in a forest is life-giving. It began with the gods.

The gods then created people from trees

In the Nordic creation myth, trees were created from the hair of the giant Ymir, who was slain by Odin and his brothers Vile and Vé. Some time later, while out walking by the sea, Odin and his brothers saw two trees, an ash tree and what some say was an elm tree. From these two trees they created people, Ask and Embla. Ask and Embla went on to populate Midgard.

The oak tree symbolized, and was dedicated to, Odin’s son, Thor (the god of thunder). If lightning struck and split an oak tree it was under no circumstances allowed to be cut down. It was considered Thor’s place of abode. In her book on oak trees, Åsa Torlind writes that one of the first things Christian missionaries did to convert the Scandinavian heathens was to burn down oak trees and forests. When no ill effects were felt, she writes, people drew the conclusion that the new god must be more powerful than the old gods. They were converted.

Don’t get shot

Felling trees is still not a simple issue. Nor is keeping meadows open by grazing cows and sheep. And even if no one owns the water, a company still can’t install wind turbines where it likes (see this post). Between military needs, the environment, commercial interests, and simple land ownership the right to roam isn’t as uncomplicated as it looks from the outside. Especially now when you might get shot.

It is well known that the military is going through a massive upgrade. There are more recruits, and more training exercises. This includes more active firing ranges. Previously, people have quite blithely, if illegally, walked by a warning sign to go picnicking in a meadow. Now, the message is that visiting your favorite little corner of the universe may put your life in danger.

The right to roam has some limitations, as well as a number of responsibilities. The number one responsibility is perhaps making sure that there is nature left to go roam around in.

How to grow a steel forest

**wind energy at sea**
*image source: https://www.mvrdv.com/projects/98/north-sea-wind-park*

Earlier this week, the government gave the green light to two offshore wind parks. It’s a start.

Conflicts of interest

The wind park application process is known to be expensive and extremely complicated. However, the Swedish Armed Forces and the municipal veto are the two main reasons many new “steel forests” (stålskogar) haven’t been approved in the last ten years.

While Sweden is working hard to up its military capacity in response to the war in Ukraine, it is also trying to increase its energy production. Unfortunately, the operations of the Swedish Armed Forces and operating wind parks are often not compatible. Wind parks want wide, open spaces – where the military has operations as well, particularly at sea. In addition, wind turbines disrupt radar, sensors, and other communications which strikes at the very heart of Swedish military capacity. Adding to the conflict is the impression that the military won’t discuss the issue. When Radio Sweden requested a comment, it responded by saying it wasn’t their job to talk about wind power.

The veto

The Swedish military’s ability to do their job is a national security issue. But local concerns can stop a wind park’s establishment just as effectively, albeit with more discussion. According to Timbro, over 1300 new wind park proposals have been nixed since the “veto” was first allowed in 2009. (It’s actually not a veto, but more an absence of support for an application. If the municipality doesn’t indicate support for a project, the project doesn’t happen.)

The reasons for not supporting a park establishment are many. Steel forests kill migrating birds and get in the way of migratory animals. They make a distinctive sound that many find unpleasant, and can’t exactly be said to increase the value of one’s home.

Compensation

Animals are out of luck, but various compensation plans have been floated in an attempt to make wind parks more attractive to people. One popular suggestion is that some compensation would be paid to the municipality for its pain and suffering. However, there is disagreement on what amount would be needed to placate a hesitant municipality, and how it would be granted.

Compensation based on how near one is to a turbine, the height of it, and a rebate on the electricity it generates are some options. Locals might also have the right to sell their property based on its value before the local wind park went up. These possibilities are all difficult to implement. Another worry is that compensation could be so expensive that no wind park is built at all.

The government’s go ahead doesn’t mean the wind parks will be built. The Land and Environment court has yet to give its approval, and there is enormous opposition on behalf of the fish- and birdlife. It takes time to grow a forest.

Strike!

**Have fun getting to work.**
*image source: sverigesradio.se https://tinyurl.com/46e5w4mk*

Thousands of Stockholm commuters this week were inconvenienced by striking train conductors. The strike by 20-30% of commuter train conductors in Stockholm resulted in many canceled and delayed rides. It did not result in any change in the staffing plans that the conductors struck to prevent.

“The Swedish model”

Strikes are rare in Sweden, especially since the 1990s. Up through the 1930s, however, there were many. The government at the time finally stepped in and told both employers and employees to sit down and work it out. Which they did.

The outcome of the negotiations, the Saltsjöbaden Agreement of 1938 (updated), was groundbreaking. In it, it was decided that the employer had the right to distribute work as they saw fit. Employees, on the other hand, were free to join a union. The government was to stay out of it. The employers and employees would arbitrate workplace issues themselves through collective agreements.

When these signed, collective agreements were in place, an obligation to maintain peace in the workplace (fredsplikt) was also understood. In other words, strikes would not be allowed as long as there was a collective agreement.

Breaking the law

This is what the striking train conductors broke in their so called “wild strike.” There is a collective agreement in place, but they struck anyway and disrupted the workplace peace. The strike is considered illegal, even by the union.

The train conductors knew this even as they considered their cause important enough to risk being sued and even dismissed. So far, however, Stockholm Region’s decision to replace train attendants with cameras, alarms, and other technology stands. Conductors will likely be the sole employee on commuter trains in the future.

Whatever happened with…

A mixed-topic post with updates on four topics written about previously
image source: https://www.thespruceeats.com

Several previous topics in this blog have made the news again. Here are updates on: Archer; Botkyrka; the lay judge (nämndeman) system; and, of course, inflation and food prices.

Say I’m in a meeting

Public pressure pushed Minister of Finance Elizabeth Svantesson to call a meeting with the dominant grocery chains ICA, Coop, and Axfood (Willy’s and Hemköp). On the agenda? To discuss how to keep food prices down, and to make sure that no one is price gouging.

No actual meeting has been reported as of yet. It also remains unclear what pressure Svantesson can, and would be willing, to apply. Like during covid, the government is most likely to only “recommend” and then let everyone decide for themselves what they want to do. In France, an agreement between the finance minister and Carrefours ended with an agreement to freeze prices on daily goods (see this post). But Carrefours is leaving it up to their individual grocers to actually implement any freeze.

The government may be playing a waiting game. Many expect inflation to come down this year without any particular intervention in market prices. One prognosis has inflation at 4.8% at the end of the year, and back to normal (around 2%) by 2025. The reasons for this optimism are assumptions that the current lower prices for both energy and raw materials will continue, and that central banks will continue to raise interest rates.

Sadly, lower inflation does not mean lower prices for food, or anything else, really. It means only that prices will not rise so fast.

Back in Botkyrka

Meanwhile in Botkyrka, the Social Democratic party has acted. The rumor was that new members have been recruited solely in order to secure their votes on a particular measure. (For a quick review of the Botkyrka conflict, see this post.) To be an official Social Democrat, party secretary Baudin stated, you have to be 15 years old and share the party’s social democratic values – but membership isn’t automatic. Baudin upheld the decision to deny 98 party membership applications on the ground that their reasons for membership did not ring true.

Not just a phone call

The recruitment and application process to become a lay judge was under fire even more this week. As became clear in the Snippa sentence, contact between a political party and a lay judge is not always as distant as it should be (see this post). In the aftermath, there have been many calls to overhaul the recruitment system, even from a former minister of justice. The damage may be deep. Just the thought that they might receive a phone call from a sponsoring party can already have lay judges checking their opinions.

At least two reports (2002 and 2013) suggesting it would be good for at least some lay judges not be beholden to a party for their position have been ignored. Chances that these new calls will be heeded are low.

Archer deliveries

Ukraine’s call for more firepower will be soon answered, at least from Sweden’s end. Minister for Defense Pål Jonson announced this week that 8 Archers and even 10 Leopard tanks are ready to be sent over. For security reasons, details are sketchy. To learn more about the Archer system, as well as the other items Sweden is sending, see this post.

The price of eggs

Been To Norway recently? Swedes are taking trips across the border to take advantage of Norway’s lower food prices. The traffic used to be in the completely opposite direction. Calls for the government to do something about the price of food in Sweden are increasing. Unfortunately, nothing about this situation is easily solved.

Reasons behind the rollercoaster

Taking a trip to the grocery store has become an emotional rollercoaster – shock, consternation, maybe anger, and resignation. We have to eat, after all. Bloomberg and Eurostat show that food prices in Sweden this January were 20% higher than January last year. Covid, China’s extended lockdown, Russia’s war against Ukraine, inter alia, are all reasons for inflation and higher food prices. Another reason for the food price increase is the strong dollar and the weak krona.

The US economy is, to many, surprisingly strong (low unemployment and a 2.9% GDP increase in 2022). Interest rates are high and will likely rise more. Other countries put their money in US dollars because they can count on getting it back, and more. Sweden has only recently raised interest rates, GDP prospects are the worst in Europe according to the EU, and the earmarks of a housing bubble has global investors looking elsewhere. Simply put, Sweden isn’t attractive right now and the weak krona is a reflection of that.

Greedflation and other complaints

Consumers’ complaints about high food prices have not led to changes. The governor of the Swedish central bank, Erik Thedéen, responded by telling consumers to buy only the cheapest products so they don’t increase inflation. Sweden’s Minister of Finance Elizabeth Svantesson told consumers to look for the cheapest goods at the cheapest stores. Charges of “greedflation” – that food stores were raising prices beyond what was necessary – led the Swedish Competition Authority to investigate. Although they found no evidence of wrong doing at the end of last year, they are now going to look again to make sure. Finally, Left party leader Nooshi Dadgostar has called for setting a price cap on certain basic goods.

Svantesson immediately put the kibosh on Nooshi’s idea, saying that determining prices was not the government’s strong suit. Other countries’ governments, however, have approached the topic somewhat differently.

Other countries

In France, food prices have risen about 14.5% over the last year. The food giant Carrefours recently announced a “very good agreement” with Minister of Economy Bruno La Maire. The understanding is that Carrefours will freeze the current price on 100 basic foods and products like detergent, diapers, yoghurt, eggs, bread and cereal.

Government-imposed price caps on twenty food staples in Hungary have been in place since last fall. Shortages of these items (milk consumption is apparently up 81%) has since forced the Minister of Agriculture to exhort Hungarians to buy only what they need and not to hoard the price-fixed items when they find them.

30% is how much the price of olive oil has risen in Spain. The government is facing internal pressure to lower some food staples’ prices by 14%. That, and/or raise taxes on supermarket chains to finance other inflation measures. The Spanish government has raised the minimum wage 8% this year alone.

The goal

The Swedish government is so far avoiding making any changes that they think might increase inflation. Together with supporting Ukraine and joining Nato, bringing down inflation is the country’s overriding goal. Less than two years ago, the goal was to raise inflation – to go in the opposite direction, in other words. Kind of like the traffic between Norway and Sweden.

Down there in Swedish

When the court decides what “lady bits” mean.

**See the film**.
source: https://www.svtplay.se/snoppen-och-snippan

About twenty five years ago, an employee at RFSU (the National Association for Sexual Information) was tired of there being no female counterpart for that casual, everyday Swedish word for the male sexual reproductive organ – snopp. In a stroke of linguistic genius, the word snippa was launched – a cute, casual, neutral, non-technical, easy-to-use word with no actual sexual connotation.

The words snopp and snippa are now part of the general vocabulary, and can be found in all dictionaries. Snopp and Snippa even have their own song. They’re particularly useful when working for and with children. A recent decision by the Swedish Court of Appeals, however, has drawn the definition of snippa into the spotlight.

What’s a snippa?

In June, 2021, a man was found guilty of raping a ten-year-old girl. He appealed the decision, and the Court of Appeals this week freed him on all charges. The reason was that the girl had not been clear enough when she said that the man had reached into her underwear and put his finger up in her snippa.

The court wasn’t sure what exactly that meant, and looked up the word snippa in the Swedish Academy’s Dictionary (SAOB). There it defines the word snippa as the external female genital organs – not the internal cervix or vagina. Ergo, there had been no penetration. Ergo, no rape. The man was freed. And now there’s an uproar.

The definition of a crime

Many find it alarming that the court needed to look up a word in the dictionary. Many find it equally alarming that a single dictionary entry was behind the definitive decision on a person’s guilt in a major crime.

Using the SOAB was the correct choice. It is the official Swedish dictionary. Had the court looked at the Swedish Academy’s List of Words (SAOL), which is a more colloquial dictionary, they would have found that snippa meant all the female reproductive organs and not just the externals. They could also have asked any grade school student, parent, or teacher what snippa meant. It is unclear why they didn’t simply pose more questions, particularly when the nature of the crime was so reprehensible and when there was no doubt that some crime had been perpetrated.

Further questions

It is also unclear why the prosecutor left out the lesser crime of sexual molestation of a child. If that charge been included, the court could not have freed the man from all charges. The prosecutor has explained that the court, in pre-trial consultations, strongly inferred that including the lesser charge was “a stretch” alternately “a bit steep” and that is why she left it out. No one really knows what went on here. It is both incomprehensible and possibly another sort of crime.

In a further twist, two of the lay judges that presided over the case have since resigned. This was met with approval by the district chair of the Social Democratic party. To be a lay judge in Sweden you must be nominated by a political party. Upon receiving a lay judgeship, you are supposed to lay your political leanings aside. For some, it is perhaps natural that a political party here takes an interest in the workings and results of the judicial branch. For others, it is a strange overreach.

The pressure is on for the case to be taken all the way to the Supreme Court. We’ll know in the next couple weeks if that is going to happen. Perhaps there we’ll find out the definition of a word that half of Sweden lives with every day, and that puts a man behind bars for abusing.

On friendly favoritism

and worse

**Spotlight on the Swedish police**
*image source: Johan Nilsson, TT / www.arbetaren.se*

Nepotism comes from the Latin word for nephew, “nepos.” Already in the 1650s, the word nepotism was used to describe granting favors to favorites – in particular, granting high offices to family members. It was first used to refer to the papal habit of appointing “nephews” (or illegitimate sons) to high positions in the church.

Nepotism has other family members. Cronyism, discrimination, bias, and plain old favoritism are other names for giving unwarranted preferential treatment. A beloved child has many names, as the Swedish saying goes. Nepotism’s offshoots only show how common it is perceived to be.

Calling all units

Nepotism and suspicions of nepotism are crippling for any organization. They are even worse when they concern the highest positions in an organization. Especially an organization founded on a mission to uphold the rule of law.

The death of Stockholm’s Chief of Police Mats Löfving was the tragic end to a case of perceived nepotism. Löfving was relieved from his post pending the results of an investigation into his promoting his subordinate colleague and girlfriend to a high position in the police. He was also suspected of influencing the salary she was paid, of giving her the right to bear a service weapon, and lying about his relationship in the first place. The day after the investigation’s results were made public, absolving him from some transgressions but raising the possibility of others, Löfving was found dead in his Norrköping apartment.

Just helping out a friend

While cases of outright nepotism or discrimination are rare, cases of “friendly favoritism” or vänskapskorruption are considered common in Sweden. A study from Transparency International in 2021 found that nearly a third of respondents believed that the level of corruption has increased over the last five years. Twenty percent of Swedish respondents added that they themselves have availed themselves of personal contacts to skip a queue or otherwise get access to a service. No one can deny that personal contacts are key to finding, and getting, a job.

Friendly favoritism or outright nepotism in law enforcement, however, is particularly grievous. Not only is public trust undermined, but the morale and motivation of an already understaffed and pressed police force crumbles. As late as May, 2022, a questionnaire conducted by the Police Union found that four of ten police were actively looking for another job. This, in the midst of almost daily shootings and bombings, is a catastrophe.

A glimmer

Tragically and ironically, it was Löfving who in 2020 first broke the silence and went public on just how widespread clans’ criminal activities actually were in the Stockholm area. It caused a furor, but it also opened a lot of eyes. His death might do the same.

Finland first?

**Sweden got lucky with neighbors**
image source: By JayCoop derived from BlankMap-World.svg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://tinyurl.com/kuemt6ey

Sweden’s application for Nato membership has stalled. At the high level Munich Security Conference this weekend, even Nato chairman Stoltenburg seemed to imply that it was certainly possible that Finland would get full Nato member status before Sweden.

Sweden’s road to Nato has been rocky from the start. After Paludan’s Koran-burning stunt, a time-out was called but diplomatic back-and-forths have continued.

Post-Paludan and the freedom of expression

Since Paludan, the police have twice denied permission to burn the Koran publicly. The first they denied was a Paludan copycat. The second was similar, but in front of Iraq’s embassy. The denials have opened a whole debate on Sweden’s freedom of expression.

The police denied permission to burn the Koran in front of the embassies on the grounds that it would cause allvarliga störningar av den nationella säkerheten. They worried that the demonstration would disturb or perhaps weaken national security.

National security

National security is not officially a reason to deny permission to demonstrate. It’s not in the lawbooks. Instead, permission to demonstrate can be denied only if it seriously disturbs the order or safety of the public at the demonstration. Permission can also be denied if there was a serious disturbance or danger to those present at a similar, previous event.

Paludan’s similar, previous event caused no disturbance to those few who were present. These two recent denials are therefore a wider interpretation of the law than has been seen for decades.

These decisions have not, however, been recognized by Türkiye to be the deviations from the norm that they are. Nato chair Stoltenberg was glad that more Koran demonstrations were averted (as were many people). Still, Türkiye’s foreign minister stated at the same meeting that Sweden has not done enough to stop PKK or YPG activities. Furthermore, Türkiye considers Koran burnings a hate crime.

Hate speech?

In Sweden, Koran burning alone is not equated with hate speech against a specific group of people. Burning a Koran has not been regarded as speech in the same way as actually speaking, writing, drawing, or even wearing certain clothing has been regarded as speech. One legal opinion states that while the Koran is written and therefore speech, the physical act of burning is neither speech nor illegal. Freedom of expression is a point of pride in Sweden, and a lot is required to shift that sentiment.

Awkward, but not bad news

With these divergent views on fundamental legal definitions, it may be a longer road to Swedish Nato membership than anyone thought. It will be awkward and uncomfortable if Finland becomes a Nato member while Sweden remains outside, but it’s not a dead end.

While efforts are stalled for the moment, Türkiye’s acceptance of Finland is not necessarily bad news for Sweden. It means that Türkiye is not running Russia’s errands, that it is not opposed to Nato’s expansion, and that it recognizes the worth of additional countries in this region to Nato. Its acceptance of Finland shows that it is not unsusceptible to pressure. In addition, Türkiye has said it realizes that it is not anti-Muslim or anti-Türkiye sentiment driving some extremist actions, but anti-Nato sentiment.

Erdogan still has an election to get through and the situation between Sweden and Türkiye is fluid. The hope is that if Finland indeed gets in before Sweden, they will continue to push for Sweden’s inclusion from the inside.

Last week in Sweden

**Know your voters.**
image: https://tcf.org/content/commentary/does-voting-matter/

We don’t know yet what exactly happened at the Social Democratic party meeting in the Stockholm suburb of Botkyrka last week, but it could be worrying. Organized crime and city hall is not a combination we want to see.

It’s your money

As SVT reported recently, income from gang- and clan-run welfare fraud is even larger than their income from drug dealing. Welfare fraud is about systematically faking the numbers when applying for subsistence allowance, assistant allowance, housing allowance and association subsidies. Welfare fraud is about using state monies for personal gain.

10-20 billion kronor a year

No one knows how much money is paid out for services not due and never rendered. The Swedish National Financial Management Authority and the National Audit Office estimated several years ago, however, that the number was somewhere between 10-20 billion kronor paid out every year.

One of the services that municipalities support are the after-school and youth clubs that are sprinkled heavily throughout Sweden. These clubs were largely created to give kids a place to go to avoid getting into drugs or being recruited into gangs. These clubs are heavily subsidized by local municipalities, and are often run by associations.

One such association is ABF, the Workers’ Education Union. ABF is not a Social Democratic association, but it was co-founded by the Social Democratic party, and is closely associated with them. ABF Botkyrka runs many different courses, study circles and clubs, including several after-school, young adult centers. The current uproar about ABF, the Social Democratic party, and fears for democracy began over a year ago.

ABF = gangs??

The Botkyrka municipality, in which the Social Democratic party is the biggest and which holds the board chairmanship, began to hear rumors – too many rumors – that the local, subsidized ABF organization had ties to local gangs. In mid-February 2022 (a year ago now), the municipality’s board voted to freeze their payments to all of Botkyrka ABF’s after-school and young adult programs. The risk was too great, it was said, and the programs had to be shut down immediately. Soon afterwards, the municipality commissioned a formal investigation on the economy and activities of Botkyrka ABF.

The report they received back was alarming. Knives and drugs, youth wearing bullet-proof vests, youth with criminal records in responsible positions, gang ties, and dubious book-keeping were the headlines. ABF protested and made efforts to meet the accusations, but the funds remained frozen.

Has there been a coup?

Since then, it’s been reported, ABF members of the Social Democratic party have invited ABF supporters to join the party. It is these new Social Democratic party members, it is suspected, who tipped the scales at the internal meeting of the Botkyrka Social Democratic party this February and voted to oust the party chairman Ebba Östlin. Ebba Östlin was a prominent advocate of shutting down ABF’s after-school and youth centers.

Several questions are now raised. Was this a coup organized by the ABF to ensure their funding would be reinstated? Was this an abuse of the democratic process? Is the Social Democratic party in Botkyrka now in the hands of a criminal element that could use the voting process for financial gain? Or was Östlin only voted out because she was unpopular? The national Social Democratic party has said it will investigate.