Sweden heads for the polls on Sunday to elect 349 seats to the Riksdag (parliament). Despite the good showing in the polls of the far-right Sweden Democrats, which has roots in the neo-Nazi movement, is slated to capture 20% of the votes. The rise in popularity of the Sweden Democrats has been fast and a reminder that…
Tag: Sweden
Why exaggerating about the dangers of “Sweden’s immigration problem” is racist
You hear a lot from anti-immigration politicians like the Perussuomalaiset* and even the police about how we must contain “Sweden’s immigrant problem” from coming to Finland. If you analyze such a claim and weigh its truth you will rapidly arrive at the following conclusions: It is racist and untrue. It is racist because it paints…
THE LONG INTERVIEW: Rebecka Holm, the adolescent who spoke out against racism, yesterday and today
Rebecka Holm is the brave adolescent from Helsinki, who in 2012 spoke out against the racist harassment she regularly experienced on the way to school. She got fed up with the situation and wrote a letter to the Swedish daily, HBL, denouncing what she and her friends experienced too often. “If Finland is now the most…
(Migrant Tales 12.2.2017) Dear Sweden, don’t play ball with the Sweden Democrats – Finland is the best example of the disaster that awaits you
Dear Sweden,
In all of the Nordic region we have seen far-right populist parties rise in this century with a hostile even vicious anti-immigration and anti-cultural diversity agenda. Of all the Nordic countries, you are the only one in the Nordic region where populist anti-immigration parties have not formed directly or indirectly a part of government.
Sweden’s former Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt is bewildered by Finland’s immigration policy
Sweden’s former right-wing Moderate Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt expresses bewilderment by Finland’s immigration policy, writes business daily Kauppalehti. “It is remarkable that before theelections in Finland they spoke about the importance of labor immigration but are [now] struggling to close Finland’s doors [to such people].”
YouGov: Of seven countries surveyed Finland ranked as the most intolerant with Denmark
Of the seven countries surveyed, Finland was ranked together with Denmark as the most intolerant country to black people, gays, and Jews, according to YouGov, an internet-based market research company. Other countries that were surveyed were France, Germany, Britain, Norway and Sweden.
A letter from a Finn to a Swede
Dear friend, you probably read about the elections in Denmark and how xenophobia raised its head yet again in another Nordic country. The elections in Denmark didn’t surprise me. Two months earlier we had elections in Finland. Here too the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS)* became the second-biggest party in parliament and are now in government.
PS MP Packalén is still in the dark about integration and cultural identity
The media is part of the problem when it comes to racism in Finland because it gives such people and politicians inflated respectability and importance. A good example of the problem is a story on MTV3 where Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Tom Packalén asks Social Democrat MP Maria Guzenina if she would root in a football match…
More red lights flashing in Sweden after three mosques set ablaze within a week
After one mosque was set ablaze on Christmas Day in Eskiltuna, two others have been targeted by suspected arsonists in the southern town of Esilöv on December 29 and in Uppsala on New Year’s Day, reports Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest daily. The attacks against three mosques took place within a week. The far right Sweden Democrats caused a…
Sweden calls off snap elections in March 2015 after reaching agreement with the opposition
The minority government of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has abandoned plans to hold snap elections in March 2015 after reaching an agreement with the Alliance, comprising of opposition parties like the Moderates, Center Party, Liberal Party and Christian Democrats, according to The Local. The far right Sweden Democrats, which caused a political crisis this month, blasted…