Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Police chief found dead at home, Hungary sets date to vote on Nato, Spring arrives and birth rate lowest in 17 years. Here's Sweden's news on Thursday.
Police chief Mats Löfving found dead
Stockholm regional police chief Mats Löfving was found dead in his home in Norrköping on Wednesday evening.
"It is with great sadness that I have received word that Deputy National Police Chief and Regional Police Chief Mats Löfving has passed away. It is extremely tragic," National Police Chief Anders Thornberg wrote in a comment on the police's website.
The police were alerted to an injured individual indoors at 7:00pm on Wednesday evening.
The individual was Mats Löfving and his life could not be saved, police spokesperson Dennis Johansson-Strömberg told public broadcaster Sveriges Radio.
Löfving, former head of the national operative department (Noa), had been reassigned last year in connection with the initiation of investigations into his relationship with the then-intelligence chief Linda Staaf.
Earlier this month, the prosecutor announced that Löfving had been served with suspicion of gross misconduct in connection with Staaf's appointment as head of intelligence at Noa in 2015, as well as the decision to assign her a weapon in 2020. The preliminary investigation was not yet complete.
Löfving, former head of the national operational department (Noa), regional police chief in Stockholm and deputy national police chief, was reassigned in December last year in connection with the initiation of investigations into his relationship with the then intelligence chief Linda Staaf.
Investigator Runar Viksten presented his report on Wednesday, where he recommended that the national police chief should consider dismissing Löfving or removing him from his position as regional police chief.
Swedish vocabulary: stor sorg - great sadness
Hungary to vote on Finland and Sweden's Nato applications in early March
Hungarian lawmakers will vote on Finland and Sweden's Nato bids in early March, according to the parliamentary agenda published on Wednesday.
The general debate on their membership bids will take place next week, and the votes -- for each country separately -- will be held from 6-9 March, the
parliament said on its website.
Turkey and Hungary are the only Nato members still to ratify the bids from both Nordic countries, which must be accepted by all 30 existing members of the military organisation.
Hungary has signalled it expects to approve membership for Sweden and Finland, declaring that it has no objections.
The deadline for the ratification vote has been postponed several times, Orbán's chief of staff saying that Hungary had to first pass anti-corruption reforms before parliament could turn to the Nato issue."
The Hungarian opposition accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's ruling party Fidesz of dragging its feet over the vote.
Orbán, a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been keen to maintain ties with Moscow despite Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
While Orbán has condemned Russian aggression, he has refused to criticise Russian President Vladimir Putin by name.
Finland and Sweden dropped decades of military non-alignment and applied to join Nato last May in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey has so far held off on ratifying Sweden and Finland's Nato membership applications, but has indicated that it is ready to accept Finland into Nato.
Swedish vocabulary: rösta - vote
Spring is here, Sweden’s weather agency says
The Swedish winter may be dark and cold, but there are better days ahead. Spring has officially sprung in southern Sweden.
Sweden’s meteorological office, SMHI, defines the season of spring as having arrived once the daily average temperature stays above freezing for a week.
That happened on Wednesday in Sweden’s southernmost region, Skåne, as well as Blekinge, the Gotland and Öland islands, and southern parts of the west and east coast.
According to the official definition, spring cannot arrive until February 15th at the earliest. Before that date it’s either winter, or still autumn.
Those of you living in central and northern Sweden will have to wait even longer.
Last year spring reached the area around Stockholm and northern coastal areas in mid-March, and only arrived in the north-west in April or May.
You can keep up to date with the progress of spring with the help of SMHI’s map of the seasons.
Swedish vocabulary: vår - spring
Sweden’s birth rate falls to lowest in 17 years
Swedes gave birth to fewer children last year than in any other year since 2005.
A total of 104,734 babies were born in Sweden last year, according to new figures by national number-crunchers Statistics Sweden.
That’s a decrease of 9,529 children compared to the year before, or in other words a birth rate that fell by 8.3 percent.
In 2021, the birth rate increased slightly, but the overall trend is falling.
The number of births decreased in 20 out of Sweden’s 21 regions and in 215 out of 290 municipalities compared to 2021. Västmanland in central Sweden, which increased its yearly total by six children, was the only county that had a positive birth rate.
Twenty-two municipalities and two regions (Västernorrland and Norrbotten in northern Sweden) recorded the lowest number of births in over five decades, since records began.
MAP:The 22 Swedish areas with the lowest birth rate in over 50 years
Swedish vocabulary: det minskade barnafödandet - the declining birth rate
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Police chief Mats Löfving found dead
Stockholm regional police chief Mats Löfving was found dead in his home in Norrköping on Wednesday evening.
"It is with great sadness that I have received word that Deputy National Police Chief and Regional Police Chief Mats Löfving has passed away. It is extremely tragic," National Police Chief Anders Thornberg wrote in a comment on the police's website.
The police were alerted to an injured individual indoors at 7:00pm on Wednesday evening.
The individual was Mats Löfving and his life could not be saved, police spokesperson Dennis Johansson-Strömberg told public broadcaster Sveriges Radio.
Löfving, former head of the national operative department (Noa), had been reassigned last year in connection with the initiation of investigations into his relationship with the then-intelligence chief Linda Staaf.
Earlier this month, the prosecutor announced that Löfving had been served with suspicion of gross misconduct in connection with Staaf's appointment as head of intelligence at Noa in 2015, as well as the decision to assign her a weapon in 2020. The preliminary investigation was not yet complete.
Löfving, former head of the national operational department (Noa), regional police chief in Stockholm and deputy national police chief, was reassigned in December last year in connection with the initiation of investigations into his relationship with the then intelligence chief Linda Staaf.
Investigator Runar Viksten presented his report on Wednesday, where he recommended that the national police chief should consider dismissing Löfving or removing him from his position as regional police chief.
Swedish vocabulary: stor sorg - great sadness
Hungary to vote on Finland and Sweden's Nato applications in early March
Hungarian lawmakers will vote on Finland and Sweden's Nato bids in early March, according to the parliamentary agenda published on Wednesday.
The general debate on their membership bids will take place next week, and the votes -- for each country separately -- will be held from 6-9 March, the
parliament said on its website.
Turkey and Hungary are the only Nato members still to ratify the bids from both Nordic countries, which must be accepted by all 30 existing members of the military organisation.
Hungary has signalled it expects to approve membership for Sweden and Finland, declaring that it has no objections.
The deadline for the ratification vote has been postponed several times, Orbán's chief of staff saying that Hungary had to first pass anti-corruption reforms before parliament could turn to the Nato issue."
The Hungarian opposition accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's ruling party Fidesz of dragging its feet over the vote.
Orbán, a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been keen to maintain ties with Moscow despite Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
While Orbán has condemned Russian aggression, he has refused to criticise Russian President Vladimir Putin by name.
Finland and Sweden dropped decades of military non-alignment and applied to join Nato last May in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey has so far held off on ratifying Sweden and Finland's Nato membership applications, but has indicated that it is ready to accept Finland into Nato.
Swedish vocabulary: rösta - vote
Spring is here, Sweden’s weather agency says
The Swedish winter may be dark and cold, but there are better days ahead. Spring has officially sprung in southern Sweden.
Sweden’s meteorological office, SMHI, defines the season of spring as having arrived once the daily average temperature stays above freezing for a week.
That happened on Wednesday in Sweden’s southernmost region, Skåne, as well as Blekinge, the Gotland and Öland islands, and southern parts of the west and east coast.
According to the official definition, spring cannot arrive until February 15th at the earliest. Before that date it’s either winter, or still autumn.
Those of you living in central and northern Sweden will have to wait even longer.
Last year spring reached the area around Stockholm and northern coastal areas in mid-March, and only arrived in the north-west in April or May.
You can keep up to date with the progress of spring with the help of SMHI’s map of the seasons.
Swedish vocabulary: vår - spring
Sweden’s birth rate falls to lowest in 17 years
Swedes gave birth to fewer children last year than in any other year since 2005.
A total of 104,734 babies were born in Sweden last year, according to new figures by national number-crunchers Statistics Sweden.
That’s a decrease of 9,529 children compared to the year before, or in other words a birth rate that fell by 8.3 percent.
In 2021, the birth rate increased slightly, but the overall trend is falling.
The number of births decreased in 20 out of Sweden’s 21 regions and in 215 out of 290 municipalities compared to 2021. Västmanland in central Sweden, which increased its yearly total by six children, was the only county that had a positive birth rate.
Twenty-two municipalities and two regions (Västernorrland and Norrbotten in northern Sweden) recorded the lowest number of births in over five decades, since records began.
MAP:The 22 Swedish areas with the lowest birth rate in over 50 years
Swedish vocabulary: det minskade barnafödandet - the declining birth rate
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