“….the myth of the Sweden model is melting away.”
(A “sad” former Prime Minister Carl Bildt)
Who is to blame for that but the present and former government officials who opened the door to uncontrolled migration from Africa and the Middle East!
All of Europe will be watching as the country, considered the most welcoming of the welcoming countries of Europe, goes to the polls this coming Sunday.
We will be watching too because I’ve long predicted that Sweden falls first to Islamic supremacism, albeit they have some strong contenders in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands. France under Macron is a top contender as well. And, then Spain has edged its way forward with its recent welcome of migrant transport ships.
On Sunday we will see if Sweden pulls in the reins in this race to cultural annihilation…..
Here the New York Times gives us a detailed rundown (with its normal dripping bias on full display) of what the stakes are and what might happen.
LOL! Even the title of the NYT piece says that if you oppose the socialist (open borders) government then you might not be moral.
Sweden Was Long Seen as a ‘Moral Superpower.’ That May Be Changing.
STOCKHOLM — In a civic center in Rinkeby, a heavily immigrant district of northwest Stockholm, several hundred people gathered recently for a forum on Sweden’s coming election and the future of the country.
The conversation, about the nature of Sweden’s democracy and the importance of voting, was sophisticated and passionate. But it was frustrating for one participant, Ahmed Ali, a Somali immigrant, who thought people were dancing around the main issue.
“The stakes are really high in this election,” he said in an interview. “There are more extremists in the country, and they have more influence. They don’t have a real political agenda. They just hate immigrants. And this xenophobia is happening all over Europe.”
As an angry and divided Sweden prepares to vote on Sunday, the shape of the next Swedish government is utterly unclear, because of the rapid rise of the anti-immigration, anti-Europe Sweden Democrats, a populist nationalist party that is expected to win a fifth of the vote.
“This election is very important to us,” said Kahin Ahmed, 48, who is running for a local seat, but complains that none of the Swedish parties put immigrants or black people high enough on their party lists to get elected in proportionate numbers, even in areas like this one. “There is a racist party moving forward fast, and we have to stop them.”
Sweden, long considered “a moral superpower,” as the political scientist Lars Tragardh put it, has traditionally welcomed immigrants. But that is changing under the pressure of globalization, immigration and anxiety about national and cultural identity. As in Germany and France, parties of the extremes, of the left and especially of the right, are increasing their support at the expense of those that have traditionally dominated.
Sweden “is joining the rest of Europe,” Carl Bildt, a former prime minister from the center-right Moderate Party, said with evident sadness. “And the myth of the Sweden model is melting away.”
The melting was in evidence recently in Sergels Square in central Stockholm, where Martin Westmont, a candidate for the Stockholm regional council, made the Sweden Democrats’ case to the voters.
Swedish Democrats is the party to watch!
“We’re the new wave,” he said. The election “will be a revolution.” He predicted that the Social Democrats, the party who built the famous Swedish welfare state, would collapse, “even if not this time,” and “we will become the largest party.” Many voters were still reluctant to tell pollsters that they would vote for the Sweden Democrats, Mr. Westmont suggested.
Populism has shifted the political discourse to the right and raised the temperature, even among the traditionally phlegmatic Swedes. Political support is fragmenting, with the long-dominant Social Democrats heading for their worst showing in a century.
See my Sweden archive here. ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive is here.