Past Annie Nylén, Foreign student

The Croft Magazine // This spring fifth pin drop, we enter the ground Uppsala with student Annie Nylén, currently studying at the country’s second most prestigious university. Sweden recently welcomed its first female Prime Minister.

The European Union placed restrictions on travel to certain countries in southern Africa, but Sweden did not. We’re still partying, there are no restrictions, and we obviously have no masks. The Brazilian variant was the big thing here, and it spread through, but no one cares because the government says everything is normal.

In mid-July, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was forced to resign. He was not a politician. In the past, when he was elected in 2014, we had problems with many of the Social Democratic leaders. I think in principle he was brought in because he was so non-scandalous. He worked in industry in the north, where he comes from, and is a foster child. I think his mother was an alcoholic, which is why his face looks strange. I laugh at that, but I think he’s a bad public speaker … always very nervous. He was re-elected by parliament after resigning but said he would resign in November. Magdalena Andersson was the top candidate and was elected by the Riksdag that month, sworn in by the king. In order for the Social Democrats to get support before the election in September this year, they needed someone new to take over. There was also pressure to bring in a female prime minister, which we have never had before.

Magdalena Andersson resigned immediately after the appointment but left her coalition and was reaffirmed to lead a Social Democratic minority government the following week, which controls the opposition’s budget (drawn up by the Liberals, Moderates, Christian Democrats and extremist Sweden Democrats). This summer, it was quite clear that the only one who could act as prime minister was Stefan Löfven. It is now clear that the only member with a mandate is Magdalena Andersson. I like her. She studied at Harvard and is very competent. I do not know what else can go wrong … but there are some scandals that Annika Strandhäll (new Minister of the Environment) is bankrupt and in debt.

It will be dark in a few minutes and we have snow. It is very cold (-8C) and in the middle of winter it will be -20C up here. We are not even in the center of Sweden, and only forty minutes by train from Stockholm (on their metro line). The National Cathedral is here in Uppsala, and they recently held a big event where the supreme bishop held a mass oath to the Sami for the role the church played in their oppression, so my friend saw some big Sami around town.

Selected image: Epigram / Annie Nylén