Today in Sweden: A roundup of the news on Monday
Risk of new commuter chaos in Stockholm, Riksbank expected to raise rate by 50 points, and Swedish embassy in Sudan evacuated. Here's some of the day's news from Sweden.
Risk of renewed transport chaos in Stockholm this week
An unknown number of trains could be cancelled in Stockholm on Monday morning after the ST transport union on Friday ruled that it would call on members not to operate driver-only trains from 9am, risking long delays at the tail end of the morning rush hour.
The union called for driver-only trains to be stopped on safety grounds, claiming that the number of safety incidents had increased since the train operator MTR brought in driver-only trains. ST is demanding that a guard be present on all trains for them to be allowed to run.
The new industrial action follows three days of disruptive strikes last week.
Swedish vocabulary: skyddsstop – a cessation of work on safety grounds
Riksbank expected to bring in double hike to interest rates on Wednesday
The majority of economists in Sweden expect the Riksbank central bank to bring in a so-called 'double hike' to interest rates on Wednesday, raising the rate by 50 points (0.50 percentage points) up to 3.5 percent, the highest rate since 2008.
Swedbank's chief economist Mattias Persson believes that this will not be the end, with rates set to undergo a further double hike to hit a peak of 4 percent by the summer.
Swedish vocabulary: en dubbelhöjning – a double hike
Swedish embassy personnel and families evacuated from Sudan
All non-local embassy staff in Sudan have been evacuated from the Sudanese capital Khartoum "under extremely difficult circumstances," Sweden's foreign ministry has said in a press message.
The Swedes arrived at the airport in the neighbouring country of Djibouti on Monday morning.
Sweden's parliament voted on Sunday in favour of sending armed troops to carry out the evacuation, after Sudan descended into civil war with two rival factions within the military mounting a power struggle over control of the capital.
Swedish vocabulary: en maktkamp – a power struggle
Sweden Democrats threaten to topple government over EU 'migration pact'
Sweden's far-right party on Friday urged the government to block a planned EU migration deal or lose its vital support in parliament.
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats provide key backing to the minority centre-right government, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union. The party fiercely opposes EU plans to redistribute newly-arrived migrants between member states.
"It can hardly come as a shock to anyone that the Sweden Democrats want an independent and very strict Swedish migration policy. The EU 'migration pact' would mean the opposite in practice," party leader Jimmie Åkesson said.
"We will not accept that Swedish voters' power over migration policy is handed to politicians and bureaucrats in Brussels. Period," he wrote on Facebook.
Shortly before that, another senior party member demanded the government block the text.
"Otherwise, I have a hard time seeing how the basis of our cooperation can continue," Mattias Karlsson wrote.
Swedish vocabulary: självständig – independent
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Risk of renewed transport chaos in Stockholm this week
An unknown number of trains could be cancelled in Stockholm on Monday morning after the ST transport union on Friday ruled that it would call on members not to operate driver-only trains from 9am, risking long delays at the tail end of the morning rush hour.
The union called for driver-only trains to be stopped on safety grounds, claiming that the number of safety incidents had increased since the train operator MTR brought in driver-only trains. ST is demanding that a guard be present on all trains for them to be allowed to run.
The new industrial action follows three days of disruptive strikes last week.
Swedish vocabulary: skyddsstop – a cessation of work on safety grounds
Riksbank expected to bring in double hike to interest rates on Wednesday
The majority of economists in Sweden expect the Riksbank central bank to bring in a so-called 'double hike' to interest rates on Wednesday, raising the rate by 50 points (0.50 percentage points) up to 3.5 percent, the highest rate since 2008.
Swedbank's chief economist Mattias Persson believes that this will not be the end, with rates set to undergo a further double hike to hit a peak of 4 percent by the summer.
Swedish vocabulary: en dubbelhöjning – a double hike
Swedish embassy personnel and families evacuated from Sudan
All non-local embassy staff in Sudan have been evacuated from the Sudanese capital Khartoum "under extremely difficult circumstances," Sweden's foreign ministry has said in a press message.
The Swedes arrived at the airport in the neighbouring country of Djibouti on Monday morning.
Sweden's parliament voted on Sunday in favour of sending armed troops to carry out the evacuation, after Sudan descended into civil war with two rival factions within the military mounting a power struggle over control of the capital.
Swedish vocabulary: en maktkamp – a power struggle
Sweden Democrats threaten to topple government over EU 'migration pact'
Sweden's far-right party on Friday urged the government to block a planned EU migration deal or lose its vital support in parliament.
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats provide key backing to the minority centre-right government, which currently holds the presidency of the European Union. The party fiercely opposes EU plans to redistribute newly-arrived migrants between member states.
"It can hardly come as a shock to anyone that the Sweden Democrats want an independent and very strict Swedish migration policy. The EU 'migration pact' would mean the opposite in practice," party leader Jimmie Åkesson said.
"We will not accept that Swedish voters' power over migration policy is handed to politicians and bureaucrats in Brussels. Period," he wrote on Facebook.
Shortly before that, another senior party member demanded the government block the text.
"Otherwise, I have a hard time seeing how the basis of our cooperation can continue," Mattias Karlsson wrote.
Swedish vocabulary: självständig – independent
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