Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.
Sweden’s PM: ‘I do not rule out Nato membership’
Sweden's Prime Minister has declared that she no longer rules out Nato membership, in a sign of the shifting position of the ruling Social Democrats.
“I do not rule out Nato membership in any way,” Magdalena Andersson told Sweden’s state broadcaster SVT. “But I want to make a well-founded analysis of the possibilities open to us and the threats and risks and involved, to be able to take the decision that is best for Sweden.”
Andersson faced criticism from opposition parties earlier this month when she warned that a Nato application from Sweden in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine risked “further destabilising the security of this part of Europe”.
Her party has also taken a decision at its annual congress not to join Nato, but Andersson told SVT that this decision had been taken in a different geopolitical situation, and could be revised.
Swedish Vocab: att utesluta -- to rule out
Sweden Democrat MP leaves party after sharing Russian propaganda
The Sweden Democrat MP Roger Richthoff is leaving the Sweden Democrats after he shared a video on Facebook which thanked Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, and included Russian propaganda on Ukrainian biological weapons, and claimed that the Nazis in Ukraine were funded by Jews who wanted to destroy Christianity in the country.
He will also no longer represent the party in the parliament's defence committee.
"We do no longer have confidence in Roger Richthoff as an MP in the defence," Henrik Vinge, the party's group leader in parliament, told TT.
Swedish Vocab: politisk vilde -- politically independent (an independent MP)
Only half as many rooms needed for Ukrainian refugees: Migration Agency
Sweden's Migration Agency has reduced its prognosis for the level of emergency accommodation municipalities need to provide for Ukrainian refugees by half.
According to the agency, Sweden will only need about 6,000 so-called evakueringsplatser or 'evacuation accommodation in Sweden's municipality, down from the 12,000 estimated earlier. So far municipalities have made about 4,500 such places available in places such as campsites or schools.
Swedish Vocab: en bedömning -- a judgement, estimate
Swedish anti-tank weapons 'unexpectedly effective':
Sweden's Pansarskott 86 anti-armed vehicle weapons have shown themselves to be unexpectedly effective, taking out several heavily armoured tanks, even though Swedish Armed Forces normally only consider them sufficiently powerful to take out lightly armoured vehicles.
"The catastrophic effects we have seen from being hit by a portable anti-tank weapon has anyway surprised me," Lieutenant-Colonel Joakim Paasikivi told Norway's state broadcaster NRK.
The weapon's effectiveness in Ukraine, he said, might be down to skilled use by Ukrainian troops, and their ability to find the best possible angle from which to fire them, or it might be down to the fact that Russian tanks are more poorly constructed than expected.
"The ammunition is stored in the gun tower, so if you hit it around the gun tower you might cause the ammunition to explode, which will blow the tower clean off and kill the crew," he said.
Sweden has sent 10,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, Norway has sent 4,000 of the M72 variety, which is also handheld but slightly weaker than the Swedish Pansarskott 86.
Swedish Vocab: att överraska -- to surprise
Sweden could now make escaping from prison illegal
Sweden could finally make escaping from prison illegal, after the Green Party switched sides on the issue, giving a proposal to bring in a new law a parliamentary majority. Sweden has long been among the handful of countries where escaping from prison is legal, meaning those that do so and our caught face no additional punishment.
The Moderate Party, Sweden Democrats, Christian Democrats and Liberal Parties have historically been in favour of making escaping from prison illegal, while the Social Democrats, Left Party, Centre Party and Green Party have historically been against it.
Escaping from prison remains legal in a number of countries, including Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria.
Swedish Vocab: att rymma -- to escape
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Sweden’s PM: ‘I do not rule out Nato membership’
Sweden's Prime Minister has declared that she no longer rules out Nato membership, in a sign of the shifting position of the ruling Social Democrats.
“I do not rule out Nato membership in any way,” Magdalena Andersson told Sweden’s state broadcaster SVT. “But I want to make a well-founded analysis of the possibilities open to us and the threats and risks and involved, to be able to take the decision that is best for Sweden.”
Andersson faced criticism from opposition parties earlier this month when she warned that a Nato application from Sweden in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine risked “further destabilising the security of this part of Europe”.
Her party has also taken a decision at its annual congress not to join Nato, but Andersson told SVT that this decision had been taken in a different geopolitical situation, and could be revised.
Swedish Vocab: att utesluta -- to rule out
Sweden Democrat MP leaves party after sharing Russian propaganda
The Sweden Democrat MP Roger Richthoff is leaving the Sweden Democrats after he shared a video on Facebook which thanked Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, and included Russian propaganda on Ukrainian biological weapons, and claimed that the Nazis in Ukraine were funded by Jews who wanted to destroy Christianity in the country.
He will also no longer represent the party in the parliament's defence committee.
"We do no longer have confidence in Roger Richthoff as an MP in the defence," Henrik Vinge, the party's group leader in parliament, told TT.
Swedish Vocab: politisk vilde -- politically independent (an independent MP)
Only half as many rooms needed for Ukrainian refugees: Migration Agency
Sweden's Migration Agency has reduced its prognosis for the level of emergency accommodation municipalities need to provide for Ukrainian refugees by half.
According to the agency, Sweden will only need about 6,000 so-called evakueringsplatser or 'evacuation accommodation in Sweden's municipality, down from the 12,000 estimated earlier. So far municipalities have made about 4,500 such places available in places such as campsites or schools.
Swedish Vocab: en bedömning -- a judgement, estimate
Swedish anti-tank weapons 'unexpectedly effective':
Sweden's Pansarskott 86 anti-armed vehicle weapons have shown themselves to be unexpectedly effective, taking out several heavily armoured tanks, even though Swedish Armed Forces normally only consider them sufficiently powerful to take out lightly armoured vehicles.
"The catastrophic effects we have seen from being hit by a portable anti-tank weapon has anyway surprised me," Lieutenant-Colonel Joakim Paasikivi told Norway's state broadcaster NRK.
The weapon's effectiveness in Ukraine, he said, might be down to skilled use by Ukrainian troops, and their ability to find the best possible angle from which to fire them, or it might be down to the fact that Russian tanks are more poorly constructed than expected.
"The ammunition is stored in the gun tower, so if you hit it around the gun tower you might cause the ammunition to explode, which will blow the tower clean off and kill the crew," he said.
Sweden has sent 10,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, Norway has sent 4,000 of the M72 variety, which is also handheld but slightly weaker than the Swedish Pansarskott 86.
Swedish Vocab: att överraska -- to surprise
Sweden could now make escaping from prison illegal
Swedish Vocab: att rymma -- to escape
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