Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Government crisis avoided, a new defence deal, SAS bailout refused, and a bumper strawberry crop: find out what's going on in Sweden with The Local's roundup.
Swedish justice minister survives no-confidence vote
Sweden's justice minister Morgan Johansson has narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in the parliament after his party secured the abstention of a pro-Kurd independent MP.
Of Sweden’s 349 MPs, 174 voted to topple the long-serving minister, 97 voted against, 70 abstained and eight were absent, leaving the Sweden Democrats who filed the motion one vote short of the majority needed for it to pass.
As usually happens in Sweden, all MPs present stuck to their party lines, with the Sweden Democrats, Moderates, Christian Democrats, and Liberals all voting to fell Johansson, the Social Democrats voting to keep him, and the MPs for the Centre and Left parties abstaining.
Johansson’s position, and potentially that of the whole government, hang on the vote of one MP, Amineh Kakabaveh, who left the Left Party in 2019 after a dispute with the party leadership over her campaigning against the oppression of women among immigrant groups in Sweden.
Kakabaveh agreed to abstain in the vote on Tuesday morning after the Social Democrat’s secretary Tobias Baudin publicly stated that the party would stand by a deal it struck with her last November to support the Kurdish government in northern Syria. Kakabaveh is an Iranian Kurd who fled to Sweden as a teenager.
Swedish vocab: misstroendeomröstning – no-confidence vote
Swedish government rejects bailout for SAS airline
Sweden's business minister Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson announced on Tuesday that the Swedish state will not bailout ailing airline SAS - and that the Swedish state will be reducing their stake in the company.
“The state are not planning on putting more money into SAS in the future. I don’t think we can be more clear than that,” business minister Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson told a press conference.
In February, SAS leadership presented a rescue plan for the ailing airline, which suffered sizeable losses during the pandemic. The plan proposed converting debts to equity, securing new capital, finding new investors and reducing costs.
Swedish vocab: räddningspaket – rescue package
Sweden and Finland sign new defence agreement
Sweden and Finland have signed a new defence agreement on so-called Host Nation Support, which will allow each other's troops to operate more easily on each other's territories.
On Tuesday evening, Sweden's defence minister, Peter Hultqvist, signed a deal with his Finnish counterpart Antti Kaikkonen during a visit to Reykjavik in Iceland.
Hultqvist said that the deal would increase the ability of the two countries' navies, armies and air forces to work together in peace, crisis and war.
"This is about Sweden and Finland being able to operate on one another's territories with the same support as if we were operating in our homelands," Hultqvist said. "This is about the status of the troops, juridical matters, and that you should be able to act in such a way that you are effective in that situation."
Swedish vocab: värdlandsstöd – Host Nation Support
A good year for strawberries in Sweden
After a terrible 2021, Swedish strawberry growers are expecting a decent crop this year, meaning there should be none of last year's shortages of Swedish berries at this month's Midsummer celebrations.
"There are going to be Swedish berries for Midsummer. There are already some now. But perhaps not everyone will be able to eat Swedish berries," said Magnus Engstedt, an advisor to Swedish berry marketing board Bärfrämjandet. "We have learnt that when it comes to Midsummer you can never say 'too many'."
He said that the strawberry flowers had not been damaged by late frosts, and the weather in early summer has been comfortable.
In 2021, hot dry weather in the weeks leading up to Midsummer shrivelled the crop, meaning there was a shortage.
Swedish vocab: behaglig – comfortable
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Swedish justice minister survives no-confidence vote
Sweden's justice minister Morgan Johansson has narrowly survived a no-confidence vote in the parliament after his party secured the abstention of a pro-Kurd independent MP.
Of Sweden’s 349 MPs, 174 voted to topple the long-serving minister, 97 voted against, 70 abstained and eight were absent, leaving the Sweden Democrats who filed the motion one vote short of the majority needed for it to pass.
As usually happens in Sweden, all MPs present stuck to their party lines, with the Sweden Democrats, Moderates, Christian Democrats, and Liberals all voting to fell Johansson, the Social Democrats voting to keep him, and the MPs for the Centre and Left parties abstaining.
Johansson’s position, and potentially that of the whole government, hang on the vote of one MP, Amineh Kakabaveh, who left the Left Party in 2019 after a dispute with the party leadership over her campaigning against the oppression of women among immigrant groups in Sweden.
Kakabaveh agreed to abstain in the vote on Tuesday morning after the Social Democrat’s secretary Tobias Baudin publicly stated that the party would stand by a deal it struck with her last November to support the Kurdish government in northern Syria. Kakabaveh is an Iranian Kurd who fled to Sweden as a teenager.
Swedish vocab: misstroendeomröstning – no-confidence vote
Swedish government rejects bailout for SAS airline
Sweden's business minister Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson announced on Tuesday that the Swedish state will not bailout ailing airline SAS - and that the Swedish state will be reducing their stake in the company.
“The state are not planning on putting more money into SAS in the future. I don’t think we can be more clear than that,” business minister Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson told a press conference.
In February, SAS leadership presented a rescue plan for the ailing airline, which suffered sizeable losses during the pandemic. The plan proposed converting debts to equity, securing new capital, finding new investors and reducing costs.
Swedish vocab: räddningspaket – rescue package
Sweden and Finland sign new defence agreement
Sweden and Finland have signed a new defence agreement on so-called Host Nation Support, which will allow each other's troops to operate more easily on each other's territories.
On Tuesday evening, Sweden's defence minister, Peter Hultqvist, signed a deal with his Finnish counterpart Antti Kaikkonen during a visit to Reykjavik in Iceland.
Hultqvist said that the deal would increase the ability of the two countries' navies, armies and air forces to work together in peace, crisis and war.
"This is about Sweden and Finland being able to operate on one another's territories with the same support as if we were operating in our homelands," Hultqvist said. "This is about the status of the troops, juridical matters, and that you should be able to act in such a way that you are effective in that situation."
Swedish vocab: värdlandsstöd – Host Nation Support
A good year for strawberries in Sweden
After a terrible 2021, Swedish strawberry growers are expecting a decent crop this year, meaning there should be none of last year's shortages of Swedish berries at this month's Midsummer celebrations.
"There are going to be Swedish berries for Midsummer. There are already some now. But perhaps not everyone will be able to eat Swedish berries," said Magnus Engstedt, an advisor to Swedish berry marketing board Bärfrämjandet. "We have learnt that when it comes to Midsummer you can never say 'too many'."
He said that the strawberry flowers had not been damaged by late frosts, and the weather in early summer has been comfortable.
In 2021, hot dry weather in the weeks leading up to Midsummer shrivelled the crop, meaning there was a shortage.
Swedish vocab: behaglig – comfortable
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