“Deep roots in racist organizations”: Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on the far-right threat in the election | Sweden
SSweden’s Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has said the country is at a crucial moment as it prepares for its most critical election in years, in which right-wing populists with neo-Nazi roots are likely to become the second largest party.
Andersson, who took over from Stefan Löfven in November to become Sweden’s first female leader, said in an interview with the Guardian during a campaign rally near Stockholm that the repercussions would be significant if the right-wing parties win Sunday’s vote.
A second-place result for the Sweden Democrats could lead to a coalition with the Moderates, an established centrist party that has moved to embrace the populists.
– There are right-wing populist parties in many European countries, but the Sweden Democrats have deep roots in the Swedish neo-Nazis and other racist organizations in Sweden, Andersson said in a campaign bus with the words. Our Sweden can do better (Our Sweden can do better).
“And still today, I mean just last week, an employee at their central headquarters invited the other employees to celebrate the Nazi invasion of Poland in WWII. I mean, it’s not like other parties.”
In other examples, she referred to a television interview in February in which the party’s leader, Jimmie Åkesson, refused to say whether he preferred Joe Biden or Vladimir Putin, and Åkesson’s recent criticism of Center leader Annie Lööf’s tone after she was the suspected target. of a terrorist attack.
– Getting that party to have a say in every government decision would of course mean a lot. And that would also mean a lot for Sweden and for the tone of the political debate, she says.
While Andersson insisted that the majority of Sweden Democrats’ voters were “decent people” who were disappointed with the status quo, she said there was an inner circle including members of parliament who “act and have ideas that are very far removed from the majority of the Swedish people”.
The election comes at a tumultuous time for Sweden, against a backdrop of growing hostility from Russia as the country prepares to join NATO, an energy crisis across Europe and violence on the streets. So far this year, through early September, there have been 273 shootings, 47 of which were fatal, according to police statistics. And the pandemic has revealed stark inequalities in living conditions among immigrants and refugees.
While Andersson said she did not consider Russia a “direct military threat”, she added: “It is very important that we have these security guarantees that we received from the UK, the US, France, Germany and many other countries during our NATO application . . . We are very grateful for that, it means a lot to us.”
She urged Europe to become less dependent on Russian gas, saying gas and electricity prices needed to be “decoupled”. “We are all affected by the energy war that Putin is waging against Europe with the low availability of Russian gas. The lesson to be learned is not to be as dependent on Russian gas in the long term, and in the short term we in the European Union must decouple gas and electricity prices , it is absolutely necessary.”
When asked why she wanted to continue in the job when the challenges, domestically and abroad, are so tough, Andersson said – speaking between visits to Norrtälje and Botkyrka, both near Stockholm – that she wanted to help the country through tough times.
As her bus, well-stocked with pick’n’mix treats, pulled into campaign events, she was greeted by circular placards of her face and the sound of Four new years! (Four New Years!), the song for the party’s youth league. At one, a small group of women sang a song dedicated to “Magda,” her nickname, to the tune of Yellow Submarine.
At her first stop, at a farm in Norrtälje, she warned voters that the election was extremely close. She said the vote was about “what kind of Sweden we want and how we want our country to develop”. At her second, a family event in Botkyrka, she urged hundreds of parents to “go and vote”.
If she remains prime minister after Sunday’s election, she said Ukraine would be top of the agenda and her priorities at home would include reducing gang violence, creating a more inclusive society, increasing employment in segregated areas, protecting welfare, stopping private companies from taking advantage of the school system and accelerate the green transition.
“What we see in Sweden right now is fantastic, with thousands of jobs in the new green industry, such as battery factories and fossil-free steel production, so we really have the potential to show the world that you can speed up the green transition and have a good prosperous development with many new Job.”
She spoke positively of Boris Johnson, who she said had “shown a lot of leadership” on Ukraine and whose security guarantees to Sweden she appreciated. “If I continue I will look forward to working alongside Liz Truss,” she added.
Andersson said that it was not very important to her if she became Sweden’s first elected female prime minister (she succeeded Löfven after a vote in the Riksdag), although she realized it would be “good for Sweden”, adding that she had seen what it meant other women and girls to see her lead the government.
– They are happy that we finally got there. So it’s an important symbol – maybe more important than I thought before I was elected, to be honest. And of course if I could also be elected in a parliamentary election, it would be another important step for Sweden.”
The treatment of Sanna Marin, the prime minister of Finland, with whom she has worked closely, after footage of her dancing showed the unfair treatment of female leaders, she said. “I don’t think it would be global news in the same way if she had been a man.” She believes the 36-year-old’s relative youth also contributed to the way she was exposed.
In Botkyrka, Ingalill Strömqvist, 76, said she was satisfied with Andersson’s performance so far as prime minister because she was “very vocal and clear about what she thinks”.
Serkan Elcen, 37, an engineer, said his voting priorities were energy policy and security, adding that it had been a difficult time with Ukraine but that Andersson had “handled the circumstances well.”
Elcen said: “She’s popular, but it’s very polarized right now.”