Swedish Finance Minister to unveil 2025 budget bill
Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson is set to deliver the government’s 2025 budget bill to parliament at 8am today.
The budget is the result of a collaboration between the right-wing coalition government and the far-right Sweden Democrats, and we already know a fair bit about what’s going to be in it. This article by The Local looks at how the budget will affect foreign residents in Sweden.
The 2025 budget is set to be far more expansionary than the restrained budget Svantesson presented last year: 60 billion kronor towards new reforms rather than 39 billion kronor for 2024. Almost half, 27 billion kronor, will go towards lower taxes for households.
The Local will cover the new budget in more detail as soon as we know more.
Swedish vocabulary: a budget bill – en budgetproposition
More kronor for royal coffers next year
Sweden’s royal court and palaces will get another 27 million kronor next year, with their budget rising to 190 million kronor, reports Swedish public radio broadcaster Sveriges Radio’s news programme, Ekot. The government also proposes an extra six million kronor for this year.
The main reason behind the increase is said to be a need to boost the security of the royal family and the royal palaces.
There’s also been an increased demand for royal presence for example in the Swedish parliament.
But the court isn’t getting as much money as it had asked for, because the palaces’ ticket sales increased last year.
Swedish vocabulary: royal – kunglig
Sweden abstained in UN vote on Israel
The UN General Assembly voted to adopt a resolution that demands that Israel “brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence” in occupied Palestinian territories, based on an International Court of Justice ruling that Israel’s presence in the territory is unlawful.
A total of 124 nations voted in favour of the resolution, which calls on Israel to “comply with international law and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied land, and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank”, according to an update on the UN’s website. Fourteen voted against and 43 abstained.
Sweden was among the countries that abstained, which drew criticism from the opposition.
“It’s very weak, and another example of the government’s passivity in important international issues,” Morgan Johansson, the foreign policy spokesperson of the Social Democrats, told Swedish newswire TT in a written comment. The Left Party called the abstention “shameful”.
Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told the Expressen tabloid that Sweden abstained together with a group of “like-minded” nations, because, she argued, the resolution went further than the court’s judgment.
“It includes among other things demands for Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory within 12 months – we’re of the opinion that that time limit creates problems for a negotiated two-state solution,” she said in a written comment.
Out of the Nordic countries, Denmark also abstained whereas Finland, Iceland and Norway voted in favour.
Swedish vocabulary: to abstain – att lägga ner sin röst
UN General Assembly ADOPTS resolution demanding that Israel “brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and do so within 12 months
Voting result
In favor: 124
Against: 14
Abstain: 43 pic.twitter.com/hIwn7y6EY4— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) September 18, 2024
Unconfirmed reports: Hand grenades found at Öresund Bridge
The police bomb squad was called to the Öresund Bridge’s toll station in Malmö on Wednesday evening.
According to public broadcaster SVT, hand grenades had been found in a car driving from Denmark to Sweden.
“We are helping customs in an investigative matter, but I won’t elaborate on exactly what kind of matter,” said Fredrik Bratt of the southern policing region. He added that the public was not at risk and that the investigation was taking place near rather than on the bridge.
The bridge remained open the whole time and police concluded the probe at 9pm.
Swedish vocabulary: a bridge – en bro
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