Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Greens over threshold, tough sentences for teens, summer sun, and a gloomier outlook for the economy: find out what's going on in Sweden with The Local's roundup
Green Party over parliamentary threshold in new poll
Sweden's green party has the support of 5.2 percent of voters in a new opinion poll from Novus for state broadcaster SVT. This is the first time the party has been over the four percent parliamentary threshold in a Novus poll since December last year, and puts the four parties supporting Magdalena Andersson as prime minister ahead of the right-wing bloc, with 49.8 percent to 48.6 percent, with 1.6 percent saying they will vote for other, smaller parties.
Torbjörn Sjöström, the chief executive of Novus, said more supporters of other left-wing parties seemed to be now planning to vote tactically to keep the greens in parliament.
"We are seeing a clear movement from the Left Party and Social Democrats to the Green Party," he said. The main explanation is that they see no alternative: if the Green Party falls out of parliament, then it won't be possible to have a Social Democrat-led government.
Swedish vocab: riksdagsspärren – the parliamentary threshold
Christian Democrats calls for 15-year prison sentences for teenagers
Sweden's Christian Democrat party has called for the minimum prison sentence for those between the ages of 15 and 18 years old to be increased to 15 years, and scrap the discount on sentences for those between the ages of 18 and 21.
"We need to put strict limits on the sentencing discount for those between 15 and 18 years old to reduce the threshold effect," said the party's leader Ebba Busch.
Swedish vocab: en tröskeleffekt – a threshold effect
'Tougher times’: Sweden’s economy to slow next year
Consumers in Sweden are set to crimp spending over the rest of the year, pushing the country into an economic slowdown, Sweden's official economic forecaster has warned in its latest prognosis.
A combination of record high energy prices over the winter, rising interest rates, and inflation at around 10 percent, is set to hit household spending power over the autumn and winter, leading to lower sales for businesses and dragging economic growth down to just 0.5 percent next year. This is down from the 1.2 percent the institute had forecast for 2023 in its spring forecast.
“I don’t want to be alarmist,” Ylva Hedén Westerdahl, forecasting head at the Swedish National Institute of Economic Research, said at a press conference announcing the new forecast. “We don’t expect the sort of economic slowdown that we saw during the financial crisis or the pandemic, where unemployment rose much more. But having said that, people who don’t have a job will find it tougher to enter the labour market.”
Swedish vocab: dyster – gloomy
Summer weather in southern Sweden expected to continue into next week
Southern Sweden can expect to see sun and temperatures over 25 degrees for the rest of the week, with the northern parts of the country facing clouds and cooler temperatures.
According to SVT's meteorologist Nils Holmqvist, the hot weather is due to a high-pressure front coming in from the south, leading to sun and perfect temperatures for swimming.
In some areas of southern Sweden, temperatures could reach as high as 30 degrees on Thursday, with a chance of slightly cooler temperatures in coastal areas.
Across large parts of Norrland, cloudy weather is expected, with temperatures of 15-20 degrees on the coast, and lower temperatures expected further inland. In the mountains, rain is forecast.
The high-pressure front is likely to have moved over Sweden by the beginning of next week, resulting in possible thunderstorms.
Swedish vocab: ett högtryck – a high pressure system
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Green Party over parliamentary threshold in new poll
Sweden's green party has the support of 5.2 percent of voters in a new opinion poll from Novus for state broadcaster SVT. This is the first time the party has been over the four percent parliamentary threshold in a Novus poll since December last year, and puts the four parties supporting Magdalena Andersson as prime minister ahead of the right-wing bloc, with 49.8 percent to 48.6 percent, with 1.6 percent saying they will vote for other, smaller parties.
Torbjörn Sjöström, the chief executive of Novus, said more supporters of other left-wing parties seemed to be now planning to vote tactically to keep the greens in parliament.
"We are seeing a clear movement from the Left Party and Social Democrats to the Green Party," he said. The main explanation is that they see no alternative: if the Green Party falls out of parliament, then it won't be possible to have a Social Democrat-led government.
Swedish vocab: riksdagsspärren – the parliamentary threshold
Christian Democrats calls for 15-year prison sentences for teenagers
Sweden's Christian Democrat party has called for the minimum prison sentence for those between the ages of 15 and 18 years old to be increased to 15 years, and scrap the discount on sentences for those between the ages of 18 and 21.
"We need to put strict limits on the sentencing discount for those between 15 and 18 years old to reduce the threshold effect," said the party's leader Ebba Busch.
Swedish vocab: en tröskeleffekt – a threshold effect
'Tougher times’: Sweden’s economy to slow next year
Consumers in Sweden are set to crimp spending over the rest of the year, pushing the country into an economic slowdown, Sweden's official economic forecaster has warned in its latest prognosis.
A combination of record high energy prices over the winter, rising interest rates, and inflation at around 10 percent, is set to hit household spending power over the autumn and winter, leading to lower sales for businesses and dragging economic growth down to just 0.5 percent next year. This is down from the 1.2 percent the institute had forecast for 2023 in its spring forecast.
“I don’t want to be alarmist,” Ylva Hedén Westerdahl, forecasting head at the Swedish National Institute of Economic Research, said at a press conference announcing the new forecast. “We don’t expect the sort of economic slowdown that we saw during the financial crisis or the pandemic, where unemployment rose much more. But having said that, people who don’t have a job will find it tougher to enter the labour market.”
Swedish vocab: dyster – gloomy
Summer weather in southern Sweden expected to continue into next week
Southern Sweden can expect to see sun and temperatures over 25 degrees for the rest of the week, with the northern parts of the country facing clouds and cooler temperatures.
According to SVT's meteorologist Nils Holmqvist, the hot weather is due to a high-pressure front coming in from the south, leading to sun and perfect temperatures for swimming.
In some areas of southern Sweden, temperatures could reach as high as 30 degrees on Thursday, with a chance of slightly cooler temperatures in coastal areas.
Across large parts of Norrland, cloudy weather is expected, with temperatures of 15-20 degrees on the coast, and lower temperatures expected further inland. In the mountains, rain is forecast.
The high-pressure front is likely to have moved over Sweden by the beginning of next week, resulting in possible thunderstorms.
Swedish vocab: ett högtryck – a high pressure system
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