Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
Russian tourist ban, pandemic slashed consumption emissions, and bomb shelters 'functional': find out what's going on in Sweden with The Local's roundup.
Majority in Swedish parliament wants to ban Russian tourists
Parties representing a majority of MPs in Sweden's parliament want to follow Finland's example and ban Russian tourists, according to commercial broadcaster TV4.
At midnight on Thursday, Finland closed its borders completely for Russian citizens with tourist visas, and now five out of eight parties in the Swedish parliament want to take the same decision.
Only the Moderates and the Social Democrats, who together hold 170 of the parliament's seats are currently opposed to a halt to the issuing of tourist visas to Russian citizens. The Moderates want to wait for a common EU decision, while the Social Democrats want to leave the decision to the incoming government.
So far this year, Sweden's Migration Agency has taken in 2,300 applications from Russians seeking visas.
Swedish vocab: ett totalstopp – an absolute halt
Swedish per capita consumption-based emissions dropped by a tonne in pandemic
Sweden's consumption-based emissions fell by 12 percent in 2020, compared to the preceding year, chiefly as a result of people stopping flying abroad for holidays and work, according to new data from Statistics Sweden.
"The biggest reduction happened within household transport, which fell by 23 percent. That can be explained by a reduction in flights and personal transport as a result of the pandemic," said Nils Brown, an investigator for the agency, in a statement.
Consumption-based emissions also fell for housing, clothes and shoes, but were unchanged for food and groceries.
Swedish vocab: växthusgaser – greenhouse gases
Swedish bomb shelters 'in functional condition': Civil Contingencies Agency
After carrying out thousands of checks this year, Sweden's Civil Contingencies Agency has concluded that most of the bomb shelters in Sweden are in a 'functional condition', with most having only minor shortcomings which can be easily righted.
"We have done a few thousand inspections on our own initiative, but we have also seen that property owners have themselves done many inspections of their own bomb shelters, with the help of specialists," Lars Gråbergs, from the agency, told TT newswire.
The government in May 2021 ordered the agency to assess the capacity and condition of Sweden's bomb shelters, and how evacuation and housing would be handled in the event of a military attack. The agency is due to report on November 7th.
Swedish vocab: vid väpnat angrepp – in the event of an armed/military attack
Swedish retailer H&M sees profits slump after Russia exit
Swedish fashion retailer H&M reported a sizeable drop in third-quarter profit on Thursday following its decision to leave the Russian market.
The world’s number two clothing group is among a slew of Western companies that have exited Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
H&M paused all sales in the country in March and announced in July that it would wind down operations, although it would reopen stores for “a limited period of time” to offload its remaining inventory.
The company said Thursday its net profit fell to 531 million kronor ($47 million) in the third quarter, down 89 percent from the same period last year. “The third quarter has largely been impacted by our decision to pause sales and then wind down the business in Russia,” chief executive Helena Helmersson said in a statement.
Swedish vocab: en avveckling – a wind down
Sweden detects fourth leak at Nord Stream pipelines in Baltic Sea
A fourth leak has been detected in undersea pipelines running from Russia to Europe, the Swedish Coast Guard said on Thursday, after pipeline explosions were detected earlier this week in the Danish and Swedish economic zones, in suspected sabotage.
“There are two leaks on the Swedish side and two leaks on the Danish side,” a Swedish Coast Guard official said, after three leaks were confirmed earlier this week on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
The official added that the two leaks on the Swedish side are “close to each other”.
The Swedish coast guard could not immediately say why the latest leak only appeared days after the initial breaches.
Media reported that the latest leak was detected at the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but the coast guard did not confirm this.
Sweden had previously reported a leak on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline northeast of Bornholm, while Denmark has confirmed a leak on Nord Stream 2 to the southeast of the island, and another to the northeast above Nord Stream 1.
Swedish vocab: Kustbevakningen – the Swedish Coast Guard
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Majority in Swedish parliament wants to ban Russian tourists
Parties representing a majority of MPs in Sweden's parliament want to follow Finland's example and ban Russian tourists, according to commercial broadcaster TV4.
At midnight on Thursday, Finland closed its borders completely for Russian citizens with tourist visas, and now five out of eight parties in the Swedish parliament want to take the same decision.
Only the Moderates and the Social Democrats, who together hold 170 of the parliament's seats are currently opposed to a halt to the issuing of tourist visas to Russian citizens. The Moderates want to wait for a common EU decision, while the Social Democrats want to leave the decision to the incoming government.
So far this year, Sweden's Migration Agency has taken in 2,300 applications from Russians seeking visas.
Swedish vocab: ett totalstopp – an absolute halt
Swedish per capita consumption-based emissions dropped by a tonne in pandemic
Sweden's consumption-based emissions fell by 12 percent in 2020, compared to the preceding year, chiefly as a result of people stopping flying abroad for holidays and work, according to new data from Statistics Sweden.
"The biggest reduction happened within household transport, which fell by 23 percent. That can be explained by a reduction in flights and personal transport as a result of the pandemic," said Nils Brown, an investigator for the agency, in a statement.
Consumption-based emissions also fell for housing, clothes and shoes, but were unchanged for food and groceries.
Swedish vocab: växthusgaser – greenhouse gases
Swedish bomb shelters 'in functional condition': Civil Contingencies Agency
After carrying out thousands of checks this year, Sweden's Civil Contingencies Agency has concluded that most of the bomb shelters in Sweden are in a 'functional condition', with most having only minor shortcomings which can be easily righted.
"We have done a few thousand inspections on our own initiative, but we have also seen that property owners have themselves done many inspections of their own bomb shelters, with the help of specialists," Lars Gråbergs, from the agency, told TT newswire.
The government in May 2021 ordered the agency to assess the capacity and condition of Sweden's bomb shelters, and how evacuation and housing would be handled in the event of a military attack. The agency is due to report on November 7th.
Swedish vocab: vid väpnat angrepp – in the event of an armed/military attack
Swedish retailer H&M sees profits slump after Russia exit
Swedish fashion retailer H&M reported a sizeable drop in third-quarter profit on Thursday following its decision to leave the Russian market.
The world’s number two clothing group is among a slew of Western companies that have exited Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
H&M paused all sales in the country in March and announced in July that it would wind down operations, although it would reopen stores for “a limited period of time” to offload its remaining inventory.
The company said Thursday its net profit fell to 531 million kronor ($47 million) in the third quarter, down 89 percent from the same period last year. “The third quarter has largely been impacted by our decision to pause sales and then wind down the business in Russia,” chief executive Helena Helmersson said in a statement.
Swedish vocab: en avveckling – a wind down
Sweden detects fourth leak at Nord Stream pipelines in Baltic Sea
A fourth leak has been detected in undersea pipelines running from Russia to Europe, the Swedish Coast Guard said on Thursday, after pipeline explosions were detected earlier this week in the Danish and Swedish economic zones, in suspected sabotage.
“There are two leaks on the Swedish side and two leaks on the Danish side,” a Swedish Coast Guard official said, after three leaks were confirmed earlier this week on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
The official added that the two leaks on the Swedish side are “close to each other”.
The Swedish coast guard could not immediately say why the latest leak only appeared days after the initial breaches.
Media reported that the latest leak was detected at the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but the coast guard did not confirm this.
Sweden had previously reported a leak on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline northeast of Bornholm, while Denmark has confirmed a leak on Nord Stream 2 to the southeast of the island, and another to the northeast above Nord Stream 1.
Swedish vocab: Kustbevakningen – the Swedish Coast Guard
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