Kristersson protested that governments had been formed with far-right support in Finland, Norway and Denmark, and that Sweden was no different. 

“This government which Sweden has established has been a completely normal Nordic government since 2001,” he said. “This has been tried in Finland, Norway and Denmark with good results.” 

Kristersson, leader of Sweden’s conservative Moderate Party, was in Strasbourg to present Sweden’s programme, as President of the European Council, to the parliament. Some of the most challenging questions came from MEPs from the green and left parties. 

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“Your government is now hostage to the Sweden Democrats,” declared the Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts, who is chair of the parliament’s green group, adding that his group were extremely concerned that a government with such a dependence on the far-right would be responsible for working on EU laws. 

Manon Aubry, the French MEP who leads the Left grouping, warned that the Sweden Democrats “neo-Nazi use of language” was already widely spread in Europe. 

“You can’t play games with the extreme right, because when they take power, they will refuse to give it up in a democratic way,” he warned. 

Iratxe Garcia Perez, the Spanish MEP who leads the Social Democrat group in the parliament said that she believed that Sweden’s programme for its presidency lacked sufficient engagement in issues like women’s rights, migrant rights, and efforts to reduce climate impact. 

“Please, be nice and promise that this Swedish Presidency will continue to lead the work against climate change,” she said. 

Kristersson said that his government was committed to being “a constructive and enthusiastic leader for the council’s work”. 

The Nordic countries, he added, were among the most open, tolerant and stable democracies in the world, and he felt “confident”, he said in the government he had put together. 

He presented Sweden’s programme under the headlines “greener, safer, and more free”, and spoke about the war in Ukraine, the coming energy crisis and the economic downturn. 

“Nothing else is as important,” he said of Ukraine. “This is not only about handling a crisis, this is about the fight for democracy.” 

Sweden, he added, also hoped to “strengthen the EU’s role as a pioneer in the green transition”, but he pushed back at those who asked whether the EU should not heavily subsidies companies planning to put in place green projects, as the US recently did in its Inflation Reduction Act, saying that it was important that companies were able to compete in the market on their own strengths.