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Sweden’s parliament votes through controversial espionage law

Sweden's parliament on Wednesday voted through a new law on foreign espionage that controversially alters passages in the constitution on freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

Published: 16 November 2022 16:51 CET
Sweden's parliament votes through controversial espionage law
Demonstrators against the new spy law outside the parliament on Wednesday. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

The law passed with a huge majority, with 270 MPs voting in favour and only 37 against. 

Before the vote, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson defended the changes as necessary to improve Sweden’s ability to cooperate internationally, stressing that it “states explicitly in the law that it is not about constraining the work of journalists, but about an express will to hurt these interests. 

He said that the need for the law had become increasingly apparent. 

“It has been pointed out to us for a long time that there is a gap in Swedish law which makes it more difficult for us to work together with other countries in international operations,” he said. “It is therefore reasonable, if Sweden wants to be a party of those operations that we have the same laws as other Nordic countries have, and which take a significant account of journalistic work and public expression.” 

During the debate, the Left Party MP Jessica Wetterling, said that the new law was “opening Pandora’s box”, by putting new restrictions on the freedom of expression and of the press. 

“This is going to lead to enormous uncertainty over what you can publish and people are going end up self-censoring and not dare to be whistleblowers,” she said. 

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The new law will create new crimes of “foreign espionage”, “aggravated foreign espionage”, and “disclosing secret information in international cooperation”. 

These offences will require changes to Sweden’s press and freedom of expression legislation, putting new limits on the these constitutional rights. 

This means that it could be a punishable crime in some situations to disclose secret information which comes about as a result of Sweden’s international cooperation which could harm Sweden’s relationships to another country or international organisation. 

Under Sweden’s current espionage legislation, secret information obtained, disclosed or passed to another state must directly harm Sweden’s security. Under the new law, it is enough for it to damage relations with another country. 

As the new law required changes to Sweden’s constitution, it needs to be voted on twice, with a general election in between the two votes. 

Wednesday’s vote was the second, following an earlier vote this spring, meaning the changes are now part of Swedish law. 

Member comments

  1. So now if government decides to give Ardogan what he wants no one can raise the flag because it will “damage” our relationship with a dictator?

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POLITICS

Full steam ahead for Swedish economy in new three-part budget bill

Sweden has won the fight against inflation and expects GDP to grow next year, Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson proudly proclaimed as she presented the government's budget bill for 2025.

Published: 19 September 2024 08:33 CEST
Full steam ahead for Swedish economy in new three-part budget bill

“Going forward, the task will be to ensure that high inflation does not return, and at the same time to implement reforms and investments that build a more prosperous, safer and more secure Sweden for generations to come,” said Svantesson in a statement on Thursday morning.

The government predicts that Swedish GDP will grow 2.5 percent next year followed by 3.2 percent 2026.

Unemployment, however, is expected to remain unchanged at 8.3 percent in 2025, only beginning to drop in 2026 (7.9 percent, according to the government’s predictions, followed by 7.6 percent in 2027).

Svantesson told a press conference that a strong focus on economic growth would create jobs.

The 2025 budget, worked out in collaboration between the right-wing government coalition and far-right Sweden Democrats, is far more expansionary than the restrained budget Svantesson presented last year when Sweden was still fighting high inflation: 60 billion kronor towards new reforms rather than 39 billion kronor for 2024. Almost half, 27 billion kronor, will go towards funding lower taxes.

ANALYSIS:

Svantesson highlighted three areas in which new reforms are prioritised:

  • Strengthening household purchasing power after several years of the high cost of living putting a strain on household budgets, with reforms set to push the tax burden to its lowest level since 1980, according to the government.
  • Reinstating the “work first” principle, meaning that people should work rather than live on benefits. Some of the measures include language training for parents born abroad and increasing the number of places in vocational adult education.
  • Increasing growth, focusing on investments in research, infrastructure and electricity supply.

In the debate in parliament on Thursday, the centre-left opposition is expected to criticise the government for lowering taxes for high earners and not investing enough in welfare. 

Investments in healthcare, social care and education are significantly reduced in this budget compared to last year: down from 16 billion kronor to 7.5 billion kronor. 

Meanwhile, the hike of the employment tax credit (jobbskatteavdraget) – a tax reduction given to people who pay tax on their job income – is expected to lead to a 3,671 kronor tax cut for people on the median salary of 462,000 kronor per year.

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