Hej,

The far-right Sweden Democrats have had a week of reckoning after they lost votes in the EU election – the first time in the party’s history that it’s performed worse in a national or EU election than previous elections. Thus far it had always been on an upward trajectory, a trend that is now broken.

In some districts it saw voters’ support reduced by up to a third, and in Sölvesborg (the popular party leader Jimmie Åkesson’s home town) where support also fell, there was talk of organising crisis meetings.

Let’s not exaggerate what this means. The Sweden Democrats get to keep their three seats in the European Parliament, and voting patterns for the EU election are usually different from the national elections (the Greens performed almost three times better than in the last national election less than two years ago).

A major poll this week suggested that the Sweden Democrats would win 19.5 percent of the vote if an election were held today – one percentage point lower than its 2022 election result, but better than its 13 percent in the EU election.

It is still a member of Sweden’s ruling Tidö coalition and it’s hardly the only party in favour of stricter migration: the right-wing Moderates and Christian Democrats, and the centre-left Social Democrats have all had a hand in the tightening of rules that have impacted foreigners in Sweden in recent years.

But its poor performance does tell us something, which may have at least a small chance at influencing the Swedish political debate in the years ahead.

It suggests that the Sweden Democrats are less able than many thought at mobilising its potential voters. Its voters are generally sceptical of the EU and less keen to vote in the EU election, not even for the Sweden Democrats.

It suggests that Åkesson overplayed his hand when he wrote an opinion piece in the run-up to the election seeking to legitimise the concept of folkutbyte, a clear reference to the Great Replacement Theory that underpinned the deadly terror attack mounted by the Norwegian extremist Anders Breivik.

It suggests that the party played it wrong when it launched a verbal attack on TV4, refusing to apologise after the broadcaster revealed that the party operated a so-called troll factory. Perhaps the public thought showing just a little bit of contrition would have been a more appropriate reaction.

It suggests that peace, democracy, the climate and European cohesion – none of which are Sweden Democrat core issues – are important to voters.

And it rocks the boat for a party that perhaps for the first time failed at what it claims to do better than anyone else: gauging the mood of the nation.

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In other news

The number of Swedish work permits rejected because the applicant’s salary is too low has increased by almost 2,000 percent since the country tightened the rules last year, according to new figures supplied to The Local.

There are plenty of things Sweden could do to help foreigners integrate, said The Local’s readers when we asked for their suggestions as to how the country could become more inclusive.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and India are the top investment destinations for Swedish companies, meaning that businesses are planning on increasing their investments in these markets over the next 12 months.

English speakers who don’t speak Swedish can currently only donate blood in Stockholm, but The Local has been told of plans to roll out the service to Gothenburg and Uppsala in the year ahead.

The year-on-year inflation rate fell to 3.7 percent in May, according to new figures from Statistics Sweden. This was less than expected.

Hundreds of British citizens are still battling rejected applications to stay in Sweden, nearly two and a half years after the deadline to apply for post-Brexit residency status. The Local spoke to four of them.

Sweden’s Migration Agency has sent an analysis to the EU Commission, in which it concludes that its near blanket refusal of late applications for post-Brexit residency has been ‘at the right level’ and is of ‘a high legal quality’.

The number of beaches in Sweden which are checked and graded is growing every year, making it easy to make sure that where you are swimming is clean and safe. These are the cleanest beaches in Sweden this summer.

From TV schedules to bars and cafes, here are your options for watching all matches of the Euro 2024 football tournament in Sweden.

Thanks for reading and have a good weekend!

Best wishes,

Emma

Inside Sweden is our weekly newsletter for members which gives you news, analysis and, sometimes, takes you behind the scenes at The Local. It’s published each Saturday and with Membership+ you can also receive it directly to your inbox.