Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Tough negotiations over the salary threshold for work permit holders, possible law changes after prosecutors solve Gothenburg murder, and why fewer heart surgeons led to a lower mortality rate at a Swedish hospital. Here's the latest news.
Sweden could change its laws after prosecutors solve Gothenburg murder
Prosecutors this week identified the suspected killer of a woman in Gothenburg in 2005. Marie Johansson was killed in her store where she sold fabrics, but her murder was never solved – until, potentially, now, when prosecutors found a DNA match.
However, the woman who is suspected of the murder cannot be brought to trial. Because it turned out she was 17 at the time, the alleged crime has reached its statute of limitations. Sweden generally doesn’t have a statute of limitations for murder, with the exception of young offenders.
But Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer told public broadcaster SVT that he may now look into trying to get the law changed, raising the statute of limitations from 15 to 25 years.
Swedish vocabulary: statute of limitations – preskriptionstid
Tough negotiations over salary threshold for work permit holders
The Swedish government wants to raise the salary threshold for work permits, but business news site Dagens Industri reports that the Liberals and the Sweden Democrats disagree on whether or not to include certain exceptions to the required threshold.
The exact figure hasn’t been set yet, but the government and its Sweden Democrat partners have previously proposed setting it at 33,000 kronor a month, which means that a lot of workers whose skills Sweden needs would not qualify for a work permit.
The Liberals therefore want to make exceptions for certain professions, such as assistant nurses. But the far-right Sweden Democrats are understood to be against such exceptions and “want to throttle immigration at any cost”, a source told Dagens Industri.
Swedish vocabulary: a work permit – ett arbetstillstånd
Why fewer heart surgeons led to a lower mortality rate at Swedish hospital
The mortality rate after heart surgery fell to 0.4 percent at the Karolinska University Hospital in 2022, the lowest in Sweden.
According to the hospital, this is because each surgeon now has the opportunity to work on more heart surgeries every year.
“There were too many of us and we’re now half as many as 15 years ago. It’s like being an elite athlete, you have to maintain your skills. If you don’t do it often, every moment could be a stressful situation. Things don’t always go as planned and it’s then important to know how to solve it,” said Peter Svenarud, consultant and head of Karolinska’s thoracic surgery. “I think I carried out 230 surgeries last year. That’s a reasonable amount.”
Swedish vocabulary: a heart surgeon – en hjärtkirurg
Eight ways Sweden’s Migration Agency could cut the wait for work permits
The immigration team at the accounting firm EY in Stockholm help clients with over a thousand work permit applications and renewals every year. The Local asked them for their suggestions on how the Migration Agency could cut processing times.
Here are the measures they believe would make a real difference.
Swedish vocabulary: a suggestion – ett förslag
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Sweden could change its laws after prosecutors solve Gothenburg murder
Prosecutors this week identified the suspected killer of a woman in Gothenburg in 2005. Marie Johansson was killed in her store where she sold fabrics, but her murder was never solved – until, potentially, now, when prosecutors found a DNA match.
However, the woman who is suspected of the murder cannot be brought to trial. Because it turned out she was 17 at the time, the alleged crime has reached its statute of limitations. Sweden generally doesn’t have a statute of limitations for murder, with the exception of young offenders.
But Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer told public broadcaster SVT that he may now look into trying to get the law changed, raising the statute of limitations from 15 to 25 years.
Swedish vocabulary: statute of limitations – preskriptionstid
Tough negotiations over salary threshold for work permit holders
The Swedish government wants to raise the salary threshold for work permits, but business news site Dagens Industri reports that the Liberals and the Sweden Democrats disagree on whether or not to include certain exceptions to the required threshold.
The exact figure hasn’t been set yet, but the government and its Sweden Democrat partners have previously proposed setting it at 33,000 kronor a month, which means that a lot of workers whose skills Sweden needs would not qualify for a work permit.
The Liberals therefore want to make exceptions for certain professions, such as assistant nurses. But the far-right Sweden Democrats are understood to be against such exceptions and “want to throttle immigration at any cost”, a source told Dagens Industri.
Swedish vocabulary: a work permit – ett arbetstillstånd
Why fewer heart surgeons led to a lower mortality rate at Swedish hospital
The mortality rate after heart surgery fell to 0.4 percent at the Karolinska University Hospital in 2022, the lowest in Sweden.
According to the hospital, this is because each surgeon now has the opportunity to work on more heart surgeries every year.
“There were too many of us and we’re now half as many as 15 years ago. It’s like being an elite athlete, you have to maintain your skills. If you don’t do it often, every moment could be a stressful situation. Things don’t always go as planned and it’s then important to know how to solve it,” said Peter Svenarud, consultant and head of Karolinska’s thoracic surgery. “I think I carried out 230 surgeries last year. That’s a reasonable amount.”
Swedish vocabulary: a heart surgeon – en hjärtkirurg
Eight ways Sweden’s Migration Agency could cut the wait for work permits
The immigration team at the accounting firm EY in Stockholm help clients with over a thousand work permit applications and renewals every year. The Local asked them for their suggestions on how the Migration Agency could cut processing times.
Here are the measures they believe would make a real difference.
Swedish vocabulary: a suggestion – ett förslag
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