The New Face of Swedish Nationalists: They Apologize to Jews, Dissociate Themselves from Putin
Correspondence from Stockholm : "I apologize that Swedish Jews may have considered... my party threatening and terrifying," Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson pounded his chest. "Even if anti-Semitism didn't shape party policy, it clearly manifested itself in the views of individual members," he declared. It manifested itself in lyrics, speeches, and slogans at demonstrations.
He made his announcement at the end of June. According to a Demoskop poll, the Sweden Democrats had 20.5% support, after several months of significant declines. They are now receiving the same level of support as in the 2022 parliamentary elections. Back then, this social-conservative and nationalist party agreed to support the center-right minority government of Ulf Kristersson of the Moderate Coalition Party in exchange for an agreement with him.
The main focus was on tightening migration, integration, and crime policies. Kristersson's party, along with the Christian Democrats and Liberals, promised during the election campaign that they would not allow nationalists to serve in government. However, they agreed to allow nine Sweden Democrat officials to take up positions in the government office.
The Sweden Democrats' Dark Past: "Many of the people who helped found the party had ties to Nazism and fascism."The Sweden Democrat leader issued his request for forgiveness during the presentation of the second volume of a white paper exposing the party's inglorious past (the first was published three years ago). The author highlights the fact that a number of people who contributed to the party's founding had ties to Nazism and fascism.
The approximately 900-page second volume covers the period from the Sweden Democrats' founding in 1988 to 2010, when they entered parliament. The author highlights the party's successor to the racist and revolutionary-nationalist organization with Nazi elements from the 1930s, Bevara Sverige Svenskt (literally, Keep Sweden Swedish). Of the party's 30 founders, 18 hail from this organization, and 11 from other neo-fascist or national socialist movements.
According to Gustafsson, there is evidence that the White Aryan Resistance faction acted as unofficial party bodyguards at larger demonstrations. The party was no stranger to anti-Semitic statements and opinions against foreign adoptions, which were intended to undermine the homogeneity of Sweden's population. Migrants and refugees were portrayed as intruders threatening the country's ethnic and cultural cohesion. The party organized music concerts promoting white supremacist ideology.
Later, a deradicalization effort was initiated, removing the word "race" and elements suggesting links to Nazism from public discourse. Between 1992 and 2010, the group's board expelled as many as 130 members.
The author of the white paper, however, believes that the party has had two faces since Åkesson joined it in 1995. Officially, it claimed it was criticized for its migration policy. However, Gustafsson believes it remains a party burdened by an ideological legacy, as he put it: " A pile of waste ideas about race, national socialism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia."
Is criticism of the Sweden Democrats a breach of contract with the government?When Liberal leader Johan Pehrson called the party "extremely populist" and "brown slime," he was sharply attacked by party representatives. MP Oscar Sjöstedt accused the Liberal of showing disrespect and violating the government coalition agreement with the Sweden Democrats. Another MP, Björn Söder, demanded "improvements to the statement." He also cited a paragraph from the government coalition agreement stating that coalition parties "should contribute to a good climate of cooperation by behaving with dignity and speaking respectfully about each other."
Many publicists considered the party's expiation to be insincere.
The leader of the opposition Social Democrats and former Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson described the apology for anti-Semitism as "boundless hypocrisy." In her view, it is not enough to erase Sweden's history. "Åkesson should start by purging the Riksdag," she suggested. "If he's serious, he should remove Björn Söder." This nationalist MP claimed that Jews and Sami people are not Swedish because they belong to Sweden's national minorities.
Swedish political scientist for "Rzeczpospolita": Sweden Democrats have changed their attitude towards Russia and Vladimir Putin"Over almost 40 years of existence, the Sweden Democrats have undergone significant ideological changes," Andreas Johansson-Heinö, political scientist and publisher at the Timbro think tank, tells "Rzeczpospolita." First and foremost, he believes the party has distanced itself from the extremism of its early years. Second, it has expanded from a small nationalist party focused on resistance to migration and minorities to a large grouping that today pursues policies across all areas. Third, he emphasizes, the party has shifted to the right on socio-economic issues over the past ten years.
Andreas Johansson-Heinö believes the party's attitude toward Russia has changed . After the 2022 invasion, the Sweden Democrats unanimously distanced themselves from Russian aggression and supported Ukraine. "They also supported support packages for Ukraine and were even positive about accepting refugees from Ukraine," he explains. Previously, attitudes toward Russia were ambivalent, and expressions of sympathy for Putin were common among leading members of the party.
In 2018, Åkesson refused to answer the question during a debate about who he preferred – Emmanuel Macron or Vladimir Putin. "I don't want either of them," he declared. And in a television interview a few days before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he was asked about choosing between Joe Biden and Putin. "I don't want either of them as prime minister in Sweden," he replied evasively.
How is the cooperation between the ruling coalition and the Sweden Democrats? " The Liberals are still internally divided when it comes to cooperation," Johansson-Heinö assesses. They have significant problems with the Sweden Democrats' climate policy and, to some extent, with their migration and crime policies. He adds that the Moderate Coalition Party and the Christian Democrats rarely show any discomfort with the Sweden Democrats' influence on the government.
Confrontations did arise, however. Migration Minister Johan Forssel (Moderate Coalition Party) drew criticism when he declared that multiculturalism enriches the country and "Sweden will remain a multicultural society." "It's astonishing and disturbing to capitulate to multiculturalism," commented the leader of the Sweden Democrats. "I'm not capitulating," the minister retorted. Twenty percent of Sweden's population was born abroad, he argued.
Recently, a bone of contention has been the law allowing individuals to change their registered gender upon request from the age of 16. All parties except the Christian Democrats and the Sweden Democrats voted in favor of the law, which has just come into effect. Nationalist MP Jessica Stegrud announced that she will work to overturn the law. In recent years, the number of people seeking gender transition has skyrocketed, and she believes this is the result of social pressure.
The Sweden Democrats entered parliament 15 years ago and have already transformed the country's political landscape, primarily migration policy. The number of asylum seekers is at its lowest level in four decades. This isn't the end, as Åkesson assures us, the goal is for Sweden to have the most restrictive asylum laws in the EU. The government will begin renting out prison space abroad, a long-held goal of the nationalists. Work is underway to facilitate migrants' return to their countries of origin, as well as tighten the requirements for granting social benefits.
The four opposition parties that make up the red-green bloc have clearly demonstrated their dislike for the Sweden Democrats and have ruled out any cooperation with them. This isolation is expected to continue beyond the 2026 elections.
RP