Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
How stable are Swedish banks, who runs Sweden's local authorities, and is the English language a threat to Swedish? Here's that and more in the latest news on Wednesday.
Who runs Sweden’s municipalities?
They may frequently be at odds in Sweden’s national parliament, but the right-wing Moderates and left-wing Social Democrats cooperate more and more on a municipal level, a new report by the umbrella organisation for Sweden’s local authorities shows.
Eighty-six out of Sweden’s 290 municipalities are now run by various kinds of coalitions.
The most common coalition (27 municipalities) is made up of the parties of the former centre-right Alliance: the Moderates, Centre, Liberals and Christian Democrats.
But the second most common (20 municipalities) is a cross-bloc coalition of the Social Democrats and Moderates, who are often seen as the two main rivals in Swedish politics.
Swedish vocabulary: a municipality – en kommun
Hungary to ratify Finland on Monday – but not Sweden
Hungary is set to ratify Finland’s Nato membership on Monday, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg confirmed. Sweden will however have to wait.
Hungary and Turkey are the only two countries that have yet to ratify Sweden’s Nato membership. The former has said that it plans to accept Sweden, and it was not immediately clear why Sweden would not be part of the vote on Monday.
“They will continue [the process with Sweden], but won’t [vote] on Monday,” Swedish news agency TT quoted Stoltenberg as telling reporters on Tuesday.
Swedish vocabulary: a membership – ett medlemsskap
Swedish banks not in need of liquidity support
Swedish banks are stable and will manage without crisis aid, said Riksbank chief Erik Thedéen, after struggling banks in Switzerland and the US stirred global concern.
“Swedish banks have no liquidity problems today,” TT quoted him as saying after a meeting of senior finance representatives in Sweden on Tuesday.
Daniel Barr, head of Finansinspektionen, Sweden’s financial market watchdog, also said that there was little risk that similar problems would spread to Sweden.
But he added: “We should be humble, because we haven’t seen the last of this. Things could change in a week or two.”
Swedish vocabulary: humble – ödmjuk
Do Swedes consider the English language a threat to Swedish?
Around 33 percent of Swedes in a new study from Novus on behalf of Språktidningen said that they felt that English represented a threat to Swedish, although almost twice as many – 63 percent – answered that English did not pose any threat to Swedish.
“English influences are often singled out as a threat to the future of Swedish,” said Anders Svensson, editor-in-chief of language magazine Språktidningen. “However, there’s a generational divide in the view on English.”
“Among Swedes over 65, a total of 51 percent see English as a threat. Among those aged 30 to 49, only 23 percent see English as a threat.”
Swedish vocabulary: a threat – ett hot
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Who runs Sweden’s municipalities?
They may frequently be at odds in Sweden’s national parliament, but the right-wing Moderates and left-wing Social Democrats cooperate more and more on a municipal level, a new report by the umbrella organisation for Sweden’s local authorities shows.
Eighty-six out of Sweden’s 290 municipalities are now run by various kinds of coalitions.
The most common coalition (27 municipalities) is made up of the parties of the former centre-right Alliance: the Moderates, Centre, Liberals and Christian Democrats.
But the second most common (20 municipalities) is a cross-bloc coalition of the Social Democrats and Moderates, who are often seen as the two main rivals in Swedish politics.
Swedish vocabulary: a municipality – en kommun
Hungary to ratify Finland on Monday – but not Sweden
Hungary is set to ratify Finland’s Nato membership on Monday, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg confirmed. Sweden will however have to wait.
Hungary and Turkey are the only two countries that have yet to ratify Sweden’s Nato membership. The former has said that it plans to accept Sweden, and it was not immediately clear why Sweden would not be part of the vote on Monday.
“They will continue [the process with Sweden], but won’t [vote] on Monday,” Swedish news agency TT quoted Stoltenberg as telling reporters on Tuesday.
Swedish vocabulary: a membership – ett medlemsskap
Swedish banks not in need of liquidity support
Swedish banks are stable and will manage without crisis aid, said Riksbank chief Erik Thedéen, after struggling banks in Switzerland and the US stirred global concern.
“Swedish banks have no liquidity problems today,” TT quoted him as saying after a meeting of senior finance representatives in Sweden on Tuesday.
Daniel Barr, head of Finansinspektionen, Sweden’s financial market watchdog, also said that there was little risk that similar problems would spread to Sweden.
But he added: “We should be humble, because we haven’t seen the last of this. Things could change in a week or two.”
Swedish vocabulary: humble – ödmjuk
Do Swedes consider the English language a threat to Swedish?
Around 33 percent of Swedes in a new study from Novus on behalf of Språktidningen said that they felt that English represented a threat to Swedish, although almost twice as many – 63 percent – answered that English did not pose any threat to Swedish.
“English influences are often singled out as a threat to the future of Swedish,” said Anders Svensson, editor-in-chief of language magazine Språktidningen. “However, there’s a generational divide in the view on English.”
“Among Swedes over 65, a total of 51 percent see English as a threat. Among those aged 30 to 49, only 23 percent see English as a threat.”
Swedish vocabulary: a threat – ett hot
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