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Today in Sweden For Members

Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday

TT/AFP/The Local
TT/AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
Defence minister Peter Hultqvist (centre) meets Denmark's defence minister Morten Bødskov (left) and Norway's defence minister Bjørn Arild Gram (right) in Malmö harbour. Photo: Andreas Hillergren/TT

SD white book, train delays, and Malmö defence meet: find out what's going on in Sweden with The Local's roundup

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Scandinavian defence ministers meet in Malmö 

The defence ministers of Sweden, Denmark and Norway med in Malmö on Monday, with four fighter planes from Sweden and Norway flying overhead to commemorate the moment. 

"It's important that we mark our interest in the entrance to the Baltic," said Peter Hulqvist, Sweden's defence minister of the reason for the meeting, adding that Sweden intended to strengthen defence of the seaway with submarines. "We see it as extremely important to have control over this entry point." 

He said that the three countries were in the middle of negotiating new agreements to further strengthen defence cooperation. 

Swedish vocab: samarbete – cooperation 

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Researcher who wrote Sweden Democrat's white book was party member
 
Tony Gustafsson, the Uppsala University historian hired to research and write the Sweden Democrats' vitbok, or 'white book', an investigation into the party's roots in the neo-Nazi and white power movements, became a member of the party in 2017, the Expressen newspaper has revealed. 
 
When the document was published last month, the Sweden Democrats described Gustafsson as independent of the party. 
 
Gustafsson told the newspaper that he "would not comment on my political position or background at all in relation to this project". 
 
"I have chosen not to let my ideological commitments, political standpoints, or actual membership, be a part of the discussion." 
 
Swedish vocab: ideologiska övertygelser – ideological commitments 
 
 
Moderate Leader Ulf Kristersson has refused to commit to giving the Liberals a place in any government formed under him after September's election, in the first pre-election interviews on Swedish state radio broadcaster SR. 
 
"It's clear that they [the Liberals] want to have a shift in power, a change in government, and we are agreed with the Liberals on big, important issues," Kristersson said. "But it's no secret that there is a discussion afoot in the Liberals as well on exactly how and with whom they can negotiate. So I think I will leave that question open."  

In the interview, Kristersson also conceded that the Sweden Democrats, whose support he will need if he is to form a new government, have an "unpleasant", and "terrible" history, but he said they had "matured" as a party. 

Swedish vocab: att mogna – to mature/ripen 

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Sweden sees continued train delays following weekend storms

Train travel is still disrupted in some parts of Sweden following the storms which passed over the country during the weekend.

In Töreboda, Western Götland, repair work is still ongoing after a roof blown away in the storms pulled down an overhead line, leading to delays of between 15 to 20 minutes on the Gothenburg to Stockholm line, as well as delaying local train lines in the area.
 
One of the three tracks on the route has been open since Sunday night.
 
Swedish vocab: förseningar – delays
 

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