The Swedish journalist Martin Gelin tells Helen Pidd about the impact the far right has had on Sweden’s politics over the last four years – and what the latest general election results could mean for the Nordic country’s future After Sweden went to the polls on Sunday, a centre-left coalition led by Magdalena Andersson looks likely to have come out on top. The result of the general election is expected to keep the far-right Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, out of government – at least for now. But the SD’s platform – anti-immigration, harsh approaches to crime and punishment, and the idea of “making Sweden Swedish again” – has now become the political norm. And the incoming government may now struggle to find its way back to the progressive, tolerant Sweden of old. Continue reading...
The fight to save Sweden’s soul from the far right – podcast
The Swedish journalist Martin Gelin tells Helen Pidd about the impact the far right has had on Sweden’s politics over the last four years – and what the latest general election results could mean for the Nordic country’s future After Sweden went to the polls on Sunday, a centre-left coalition led by Magdalena Andersson looks likely to have come out on top. The result of the general election is expected to keep the far-right Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots, out of government – at least for now. But the SD’s platform – anti-immigration, harsh approaches to crime and punishment, and the idea of “making Sweden Swedish again” – has now become the political norm. And the incoming government may now struggle to find its way back to the progressive, tolerant Sweden of old. Continue reading...