EBU slams Swedish Eurovision opening act for wearing Palestine scarf

The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals kicked off on Tuesday evening. Security was high at Malmö Arena – where Sweden’s terror threat level and a row over Israel’s participation in the contest have been a challenge for organisers – but the evening unfolded without much ado. 

The biggest headlines were grabbed by Swedish artist Eric Saade, who performed as the opening act, wearing a Palestine keffiyeh, a scarf, wrapped around his wrist. Saade’s mother is Swedish and his father is a Palestinian who was born and raised in Lebanon. Saade has been critical of the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to allow Israel to compete despite its involvement in the brutal war in Gaza. 

Both Swedish public broadcaster SVT and the EBU criticised Saade for wearing the scarf.

“The Eurovision Song Contest is a live TV show. All performers are made aware of the rules of the contest, and we regret that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event,” said EBU in a statement. 

“I got that scarf from my dad as a little boy, to never forget where the family comes from. I didn’t know then that it one day would be called a ‘political symbol’. That’s like calling the Dala horse a political symbol. To my eyes, it’s nothing but racism. I just wanted to be inclusive and carry something that’s real to me – but EBU seems to think that my ethnicity is controversial. That says nothing about me, but everything about them. I repeat this year’s Eurovision Song Contest slogan: United by music,” Saade responded in a text message to SVT.

Swedish vocabulary: a wrist – en handled

Will Sweden’s central bank cut interest rates today?

The Swedish central bank, the Riksbank, is set to make a widely awaited announcement on the country’s so-called policy rate at 9.30am on Wednesday. Many are hoping that it will cut the rate for the first time in eight years, but it’s possible they will postpone the cut another month.

The policy rate currently stands at 4.0 percent, the highest interest rate seen in Sweden since 2008.

This is a crucial announcement, as the policy rate is the bank’s main monetary policy tool. It decides which rates Swedish banks can deposit in and borrow money from the Riksbank, which in turn affects the banks’ own interest rates on savings, loans and mortgages.

If bank interest rates are high, it’s expensive to borrow money, which means people spend less and as a result inflation drops.

But now that inflation is on its way down, Riksbank chiefs themselves have said that they think it’s likely that they will cut the policy rate in either May or June, and several economists predict that the cut is going to come sooner rather than later, which would mean today.

The Local will cover the interest rate announcement when it comes.

Swedish vocabulary: an interest rate – en ränta

11 foreign soldiers injured in Nato exercise in Sweden

Eleven soldiers were injured while jumping from parachutes during a Nato exercise in Småland, south-eastern Sweden.

The soldiers are from the US, Hungary and Italy, reports the Aftonbladet tabloid, and were taken to hospital in Linköping and Jönköping.

“We’re talking wounds and fractures, no one has life-threatening injuries,” an Army spokesperson confirmed to Aftonbladet.

Between 600 and 800 Nato troops carried out parachute jumps on Tuesday.

Swedish vocabulary: a parachute – en fallskärm

Swedes warned of surprise May snowfall

Hope you enjoyed the summer while it lasted, because on Wednesday snow was again set to fall in central Sweden.

Weather agency SMHI warned people living in areas where it snowed overnight, particularly in some parts of Västernorrland and northern Jämtland, to drive slowly and carefully as they and most other people will probably already have switched to summer tyres by now. 

Even Stockholm may get some flakes of snow, but it’s not clear how much will actually stick.

May snowfall is unusual but not unique, an SMHI spokesperson told the TT newswire.

The southern Götaland region will get to enjoy summer temperatures on Wednesday, and the mercury is expected to climb back into double-digits in the rest of the country as well on Thursday.

Swedish vocabulary: unusual – ovanligt