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The Sweden Democrats
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True or false? The people who formed the Sweden Democrats had previously been active in nationalist and racist organisations, such as the Sweden Party and Keep Sweden Swedish.
It’s the 1980s in Sweden. In politics, the dominant conflict is between the left and the right: welfare state versus free market. These people don’t care much about left or right. To them, the most important issue is who is moving to Sweden. They think there are too many immigrants, who are coming from countries too far away.
Even though the demonstrators represent different groups and parties, they have something in common: they want to defend and honour Sweden. Not the Swedish state, but rather the Swedish people, culture, and history: the Swedish nation. They are nationalists. Some of them use violence and threats. Others try to win votes in elections, without violence.
In 1988, some of them get tired of their old organisations and launch a new party: The Sweden Democrats - SD. At first, few people notice them. But the Sweden Democrats grow… ...and grow. They elect a new chairman, who replaces old slogans, ...symbols and clothes. They want to gain trust and be respected.
Sweden joins the EU, and more people migrate to Sweden. The Sweden Democrats grow. And grow. A new chairman again, Jimmie Åkesson. and a new party symbol.
Members who are caught saying things that are racist are expelled from the party. Still the party keeps growing, and gains seats in almost half of the municipalities. At this time, most other parties are wary of talking about immigration. They are especially careful when talking about costs or problems related to immigration. Those who do talk about it, risk being seen as racist, even when they are not.
In 2010, the Sweden Democrats win their first seats in the Parliament. More members get expelled for racist comments. Despite this, the Sweden Democrats become the third largest party in the Parliament in the 2014 election. At the same time, in Syria, a brutal war is underway, and the number of refugees arriving in Sweden is increasing quickly. And now the political conversation changes.
Suddenly, all parties are talking about immigration, and most of them want Sweden to accept far fewer refugees. The Sweden Democrats are no longer alone talking about this issue. But, the Sweden Democrats differ in other ways from their political opponents. Four ideas are often repeated by the Sweden Democrats in their description of Sweden. They say that: First, Sweden is threatened by Islam.
Because of immigration and a high birth rate, Muslims are about to take over Sweden. Second, Traditional Swedish culture is threatened by mixing cultures. Multiculturalism leads to violence and crime." Third, these threats are so serious that Sweden is on the verge of a battle for the survival of the nation and the civilisation. And fourth, newspapers, radio, and television deliberately lie, silence, and cover up this situation. The Sweden Democrats start their own media channels, almost exclusively reporting on immigration.
Those who criticise the Sweden Democrats, on the other hand, claim that these ideas are a simplified and incorrect view of the situation in Sweden. They point out similarities between how the Sweden Democrats talk about Muslims today and how the Nazis talked about Jews during the 1930’s. They believe the vast majority of immigrants and Muslims are – just like most native Swedes – ordinary people, minding their own business, doing their jobs and giving their kids a good future. They also think that Swedish culture always has been mixed with other cultures, and changed. The Sweden Democrats stir up strong emotion, among their supporters as well as their political opponents.
From being a party that all other parties in the Parliament earlier distanced themselves from and refused to cooperate with, the Sweden Democrats has become more and more accepted. Today they are cooperating on several issues with the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. The parties on the left and the Center Party do not want to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats. Just as when the party formed, SD don’t fit very well on the left-to-right spectrum of politics. Since they entered the Parliament, they have changed their views on many of their previous core issues.
For example, earlier they have demanded that Sweden should leave the EU, but now want Sweden to remain in the EU. And they have gone from opposing Sweden joining NATO, to supporting NATO membership. SD's most important political issues are law and order. And elderly care. But, for the Sweden Democrats, the most pressing issue remains greatly reducing immigration, and preferably returning immigrants to their home countries.