Swedish EU presidency at the mercy of Eurosceptics – DW – 2023-01-12
There are only a few hours of daylight in Kiruna in January. The snow crunches under your feet during a walk through the town, located about 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland. This is where Sweden’s government has decided to officially begin its EU presidency – a mining town known for its northern lights and vibrant indigenous Sami culture.
The rotating presidency of the European Union is supposed to push the work on EU legislation forward and ensure cooperation between the member states. And of course it’s an excellent opportunity to show off your nation.
Smooth and efficient, aka “Swedish style”, is how civil servants here say they intend to do the job. “Our leadership this six months ahead will focus on the ambition to make Europe greener, safer, freer,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has promised.
The prime minister said it was key to preserve the bloc’s unity in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Ukraine’s victory is decisive,” he told a news conference. Other priorities include strengthening the EU’s competitiveness, the rule of law and the transition to green energy.
Can Sweden deliver?
Sweden’s new minority government — consisting of the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals — would not be able to govern without the support of the nationalist Sweden Democrats.
The party, which was founded in the 1980s by right-wing extremists, “has a long history of being against the European Union,” Karlstad University professor Tobias Hübinette told DW.
The party has until recently advocated that Sweden should leave the EU. This position has changed. But Hübinette, who has studied the party for years, argued that the Sweden Democrats remain a deeply Eurosceptic party and could take the country’s EU presidency “hostage”.
Migration, for example, “cannot be a priority for Sweden’s presidency because the Sweden Democrats would never accept the EU establishing a common migration policy,” Hübinette said.
He pointed to climate action as another example. The government in Stockholm promises to work to deliver on Europe’s climate goals. The visit to Kiruna in the far north should emphasize that: Just recently, Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth metals was located in the Kiruna area — metals that are essential for the production of electric vehicles and wind turbines, according to Kiruna’s mining company.
However, the Sweden Democrats question the science, said Hübinette. Their environmental spokeswoman, Elsa Widding, called the fight against climate change “gesture politics” and denied the reality of the crisis in a speech in parliament.
Eurosceptics have clout
Kristersson seemed to shrug off all concerns about the party’s influence, which indicated that the government’s cooperation with the Sweden Democrats went smoothly and in accordance with the agreement.
EU Minister Jessika Roswall also played down any concerns. “I think it will work very well,” she told DW. “It’s like in the EU, where 27 member states have to compromise. Sometimes we also have to compromise. It’s not more complicated than that.”
But the Sweden Democrats seem to be very clear about their role and influence. “We will clearly have influence,” Charlie Weimers, a member of the European Parliament, told DW.
A “red line”
Weimers specifically mentioned migration policy. “We do not want any mandatory mechanism for migration, either in the form of relocations or financial contributions from EU countries,” he said. “We don’t want more asylum migration at the moment.” It would be a “red line” for the Sweden Democrats, he said, hinting that crossing it would have consequences for the government in Stockholm.
On one issue, however, the party has promised not to cause any problems: Continued support “for the Ukrainian war effort against the illegal Russian invasion” is very high on the Sweden Democrats’ agenda, Weimers said.
After appearing to be quite pro-Russian for many years, the Sweden Democrats now seem to be behind the government’s stance on Ukraine. It should at least provide some relief for Prime Minister Kristersson and his agenda for Sweden’s EU presidency.