Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Rail companies hope to avert strike, two government parties below parliamentary threshold in poll, and Ukraine's Swedish village hit by rocket attacks. Here's some of the day's news.
Train companies hope to make deal before strike on Thursday
The ongoing mediation between train companies and unions aimed at averting a strike on Thursday continued on Tuesday night without a deal being reached, but a spokesperson for the rail companies said that the talks were going well.
"The feeling about reaching a solution is good," said Pierre Sandberg, chair of Tågföretagens förbund, the trade body for rail companies. "We are having constructive talks and are discussing various solutions to the issue of late changes to timetables and schedules."
Sweden's Seko union has called for the first stage of a three stage strike to start on Thursday if a deal is not reached.
Swedish Vocabulary: en lösning – a solution
Christian Democrats and Liberals under parliamentary threshold in new poll of polls
The Christian Democrats and Liberals, the two smallest government parties, are underneath the four percent threshold to enter parliament in a new poll of polls put together by Kantar Sifo for Sweden's SR radio broadcaster.
The two parties are on 3.6 percent and 3.4 percent respectively, while the opposition Green Party and Centre Party are above the threshold on 4.5 percent each.
The government parties together have 44.4 percent of votes, with the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats on 19.7 percent and 17.7 percent, respectively.
The opposition parties have a total of 53.9 percent of votes, with the Social Democrats on 37.3 percent and the Left Party on 7.6 percent.
Swedish vocabulary: riksdagsspärren – the parliamentary threshold
Ukraine's Swedish village hit by heavy rocket attacks
Gammalsvenskby, the historic Swedish village in the south of Ukraine, has been facing repeated rocket attacks by Russian forces, Sofia Hoas, chair of Svenskbyborna, a group supporting the village based on Gotland, has told the TT newswire.
"We have received reports of them shooting phosphorus grenades," Hoas said. "One house has burned down and another house is damaged, but no one has been badly injured."
Russian forces are currently gathered on the other side of the river from the village, just 4km away, she said.
Swedish vocabulary: över floden – the other side of the river
Migration Agency boss says Sweden talent deportation problem exaggerated
The head of Sweden's Migration Agency has hit back at accusations that highly-skilled labour migrants in Sweden still have work permit extensions refused for minor mistakes, claiming that between 98 and 99 percent of extensions are approved.
In an interview for The Local's Sweden in Focus podcast, the agency's outgoing Director General, Mikael Ribbenvik, said that so-called talent deportations, or kompetensutvisning, a term referring to the phenomenon of the Swedish Migration Agency ordering highly-skilled foreign workers to leave the country due to minor administrative errors, was "a great word" that had never reflected reality.
"The truth was that when we looked at it the highly-skilled or certified cases that were in the papers, we were always at between 98 percent and 99 percent approval for extensions, so come on, if it was any higher, it would be everybody," he said. "This was a campaign. It was really good, it still exists, and it was totally wrong."
Swedish vocabulary: utvisning – deportation
Swedish crematorium to wow kids with treasure hunt for the 'ash troll'
A crematorium in Borås, western Sweden, will this Sunday hold an open day for the general public for the first time in its history, giving people access to areas usually reserved for coffins and staff.
The crematorium hopes to attract families with children by, among other things, offering guided tours of the cremation furnaces and organising a treasure hunt based around "ash trolls", pictures of small clouds of ash that the crematorium will stick up around the premises.
"Our work is very much based around ashes and we have chimneys where smoke comes out, so that's the reason we've come up with this character," Stefan Bärve, head of the graveyard where the crematorium is based, told the Göteborgs-Posten newspaper.
Swedish vocabulary: kista – coffin
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Train companies hope to make deal before strike on Thursday
The ongoing mediation between train companies and unions aimed at averting a strike on Thursday continued on Tuesday night without a deal being reached, but a spokesperson for the rail companies said that the talks were going well.
"The feeling about reaching a solution is good," said Pierre Sandberg, chair of Tågföretagens förbund, the trade body for rail companies. "We are having constructive talks and are discussing various solutions to the issue of late changes to timetables and schedules."
Sweden's Seko union has called for the first stage of a three stage strike to start on Thursday if a deal is not reached.
Swedish Vocabulary: en lösning – a solution
Christian Democrats and Liberals under parliamentary threshold in new poll of polls
The Christian Democrats and Liberals, the two smallest government parties, are underneath the four percent threshold to enter parliament in a new poll of polls put together by Kantar Sifo for Sweden's SR radio broadcaster.
The two parties are on 3.6 percent and 3.4 percent respectively, while the opposition Green Party and Centre Party are above the threshold on 4.5 percent each.
The government parties together have 44.4 percent of votes, with the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats on 19.7 percent and 17.7 percent, respectively.
The opposition parties have a total of 53.9 percent of votes, with the Social Democrats on 37.3 percent and the Left Party on 7.6 percent.
Swedish vocabulary: riksdagsspärren – the parliamentary threshold
Ukraine's Swedish village hit by heavy rocket attacks
Gammalsvenskby, the historic Swedish village in the south of Ukraine, has been facing repeated rocket attacks by Russian forces, Sofia Hoas, chair of Svenskbyborna, a group supporting the village based on Gotland, has told the TT newswire.
"We have received reports of them shooting phosphorus grenades," Hoas said. "One house has burned down and another house is damaged, but no one has been badly injured."
Russian forces are currently gathered on the other side of the river from the village, just 4km away, she said.
Swedish vocabulary: över floden – the other side of the river
Migration Agency boss says Sweden talent deportation problem exaggerated
The head of Sweden's Migration Agency has hit back at accusations that highly-skilled labour migrants in Sweden still have work permit extensions refused for minor mistakes, claiming that between 98 and 99 percent of extensions are approved.
In an interview for The Local's Sweden in Focus podcast, the agency's outgoing Director General, Mikael Ribbenvik, said that so-called talent deportations, or kompetensutvisning, a term referring to the phenomenon of the Swedish Migration Agency ordering highly-skilled foreign workers to leave the country due to minor administrative errors, was "a great word" that had never reflected reality.
"The truth was that when we looked at it the highly-skilled or certified cases that were in the papers, we were always at between 98 percent and 99 percent approval for extensions, so come on, if it was any higher, it would be everybody," he said. "This was a campaign. It was really good, it still exists, and it was totally wrong."
Swedish vocabulary: utvisning – deportation
Swedish crematorium to wow kids with treasure hunt for the 'ash troll'
A crematorium in Borås, western Sweden, will this Sunday hold an open day for the general public for the first time in its history, giving people access to areas usually reserved for coffins and staff.
The crematorium hopes to attract families with children by, among other things, offering guided tours of the cremation furnaces and organising a treasure hunt based around "ash trolls", pictures of small clouds of ash that the crematorium will stick up around the premises.
"Our work is very much based around ashes and we have chimneys where smoke comes out, so that's the reason we've come up with this character," Stefan Bärve, head of the graveyard where the crematorium is based, told the Göteborgs-Posten newspaper.
Swedish vocabulary: kista – coffin
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