In the right time, Sweden’s 9/11 parliamentary elections may prove to be a small turning point for the West. A country that has long been famous for being left-wing is heading in the right-wing direction.
Once a fringe party, the Swedish Democrats won 20.5 percent of the vote, second only to the left-wing Social Democrats.
Moreover, the Swedish Democratic Party’s coalition with other right-wing parties defeated the left-wing coalition associated with the current government. They will have real influence in the new Congress.
Party leader Jimmy Okeson was quoted as saying before the election that the contest would give Swedish Democrats a chance to “make Sweden great again.”
Some of the Swedish Democratic Party’s strongest achievements have been among young people. His approval rating among 18-21-year-old voters surged from 2018 to 2022, nearly doubling from 12% to 22%. according to Sveriges Radio.
What was it that persuaded young people in Sweden to challenge conservatism?
Charlie Weimers, Swedish Democratic MEP and Member of the European Parliament, said: “The lost sense of personal security among young people is a very powerful driver of this change.
Weimers spoke to The Epoch Times on Sept. 29.
He noted an increase in violent crime by immigrants, many of whom live in segregated off-limits areas.
“When you read about gangs waiting outside schools to ambush students after school, this does something for young people,” he said.
“They know, despite years of denial, that this is directly related to high migration rates.”
The country’s liberal social democratic policies, which apply to nearly everyone who walks through the front door, may prove the collapse of the social democracy.
“Immigration has been largely facilitated by a very generous welfare system,” Weimers said.
While the welfare state provides benefits, the country’s criminal justice system struggles to manage punishment.
For example, between 2010 and 2014, according to government statistics, only 13% of foreigners convicted of child rape in Sweden were deported to their country of origin.
They are not a small part of those criminals.
Ann unhard analysis Ayaan Hirsi Ali details the overrepresentation of foreign-born individuals among Swedish rapists.
Weimers said rising energy prices and aggressive environmental policies have also contributed to young people’s support for Sweden’s Democratic Party. Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg’s popularity may be waning among Generation Z.
moderate turn
As in Italy, where the national conservative Italian brothers made big gains in the Sept. 25 elections, the legacy media were keen to dig up links between Swedish Democrats and extremist views. (The historical links between left-wing parties in Europe and global communism, and more specifically with the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, remain mysteriously underestimated.)
A few days before the election, then-Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, a Social Democrat, warned that “Swedish Democrats are deeply rooted in Swedish neo-Nazis and other Swedish racist organizations.”
Weimers said his own affiliation with the Swedish Democratic Party reflected the party’s move toward normalization in the Swedish political scene, particularly its shift toward national conservatism.
In fact, earlier this year, Weimers spoke at the National Conservative Brussels Conference, aligning him with the growing anti-globalist movement in the West’s centre-right.
He emphasized Oakeson’s zero-tolerance policy against racism within the ranks.
In ultra-liberal Sweden, the Swedish Democratic Party has long been the only option for immigration skeptics, Weimers explained.
“So open borders will attract sensible opponents, and open borders will attract less wise opponents. This is a matter of maturity of the party,” he said.
against russia
The rise of the Swedish Democratic Party comes as Sweden departs from its long tradition of officially maintained neutrality throughout World War II and the Cold War to oppose Russian expansionism.
The country is expected to successfully bid to join the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The Swedish Democrats agree with this idea and support Sweden’s accession to the alliance, which is conditional on Finland’s membership.
The fate of Finland and Sweden’s NATO applications rests with Turkey. In recent weeks, the three states have met to hammer out a deal satisfactory to Turkey, which seeks the extradition of alleged Kurdish terrorist suspects from the Nordic countries.
Weimers explained why his party views NATO membership favorably, even though some conservatives detest potential military entanglements.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced several parties to update their security analyses,” he said.
He emphasized the strategic value of the Baltic Sea circling Sweden’s east coast. Both NATO and Russia are expected to contest the region, making it even more difficult for Sweden to remain strictly neutral.
But the Swedish Democrats’ growing interest in multilateralism has its limits, including the issue of the European Union.
Weimers described his party as “critical of the EU but reformist” and said he wanted to reign in Brussels while focusing on cooperation on trade and other core EU strengths.
“The EU elite drew all the wrong conclusions from Brexit,” he said, arguing that the bloc’s leadership redoubled its efforts to the kinds of policies that helped drive Britain away.
follow