Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
The latest news on the rail strike threat, another high-profile Liberal quits the party, Beyonce kicks off world tour in Stockholm, and new unemployment figures buck the trend. Here's Thursday's news from Sweden.
Another high-profile Liberal quits the party
Former minister and EU commissioner Cecilia Malmström has left the Liberals, the DN daily reports, the latest in a series of high-profile members quitting the party.
Malmström was EU minister in Fredrik Reinfeldt’s centre-right coalition government between 2006 and 2010, and EU commissioner between 2010 and 2019. She declined to speak about her decision to leave the Liberals when approached by Swedish media.
Her departure follows that of several other well-known Liberals, who have left the party in the past year following its decision to campaign for a government supported by the far-right Sweden Democrats. Former party leader Bengt Westerberg said ahead of the election that he would vote for the Centre Party, as did former minister Birgitta Ohlsson.
Swedish vocabulary: to leave – att lämna
Sweden’s unemployment at lowest level in 14 years
The financial crisis has not yet hit the labour market in Sweden, where unemployment stands at its lowest level since March 2009, according to the Public Employment Service. A total of 6.3 percent of people aged 16-65 are registered as unemployed.
But experts believe the trend may not last.
“I think this strong development will soon reach an end. It looks like the redundancies will come later,” a Public Employment Service market analyst told the TT newswire.
Swedish vocabulary: unemployment – arbetslöshet
No deal struck as rail strike threat looms
No agreement had been struck between Sweden’s rail companies and unions by 6.45am on Thursday (the time of publication), the day when a potential strike was set to begin.
Members of the Seko union were set to walk out at 3pm if no agreement had been reached by then, in protest at the rail companies’ refusal to enter negotiations over more predictable timetables and shift schedules for drivers.
The union has divided the industrial action into three separate stages, with the first one mainly affecting Öresundståg trains travelling from across southern Sweden over the bridge to Copenhagen, and to a lesser extent SL commuter traffic in Stockholm. SJ long-distance trains could also be affected from May 12th, SJ writes on its website.
If negotiations remain unsuccessful, the next stages will go under way on May 15th and 18th. Here’s a list of the key dates on which train travellers may be affected in Sweden.
Swedish vocabulary: a strike – en strejk
Fans in frenzy as Beyonce kicks off concert tour in Stockholm
The 60,000-capacity Friends Arena north of Stockholm was filled to the brim last night with ecstatic Beyonce fans as the superstar kicked off her first solo tour in seven years.
“Just want to say: Y’all make me so happy,” Beyonce said as the concert began, reported the AFP news agency. “I see familiar faces, people that flew from very, very far to come see the first show tonight,” she told the audience at the outset of the three-hour show.
Tickets for Beyonce’s opening show of the Renaissance World Tour sold out so quickly that organisers added a second concert at the same venue for Thursday. From there, she goes to Brussels this weekend. The tour is set to continue until September.
Swedish vocabulary: a superstar – en superstjärna
EU court overturns approval of SAS and Lufthansa Covid bailouts
An EU court on Wednesday overturned the European Commission's decision to approve massive government bailouts for Scandinavia's SAS airline and Germany’s Lufthansa during the coronavirus pandemic, after a legal challenge by rival airlines.
In 2020, the European Commission approved a bailout of just over one billion euros ($1.1 billion) for SAS from Sweden and Denmark. Lufthansa in the same year received a multi-billion-euro cash injection to save it from collapse as the pandemic brought air travel to a halt.
In the case of Lufthansa, the EU General Court, Europe’s second-highest court, said the commission “committed several errors”, and annulled its decision to approve six billion euros of bailout funds.
The court also ruled against the commission’s decision on the aid for long-troubled SAS, in response to a complaint brought by Ryanair.
Swedish vocabulary: a court – en domstol
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Another high-profile Liberal quits the party
Former minister and EU commissioner Cecilia Malmström has left the Liberals, the DN daily reports, the latest in a series of high-profile members quitting the party.
Malmström was EU minister in Fredrik Reinfeldt’s centre-right coalition government between 2006 and 2010, and EU commissioner between 2010 and 2019. She declined to speak about her decision to leave the Liberals when approached by Swedish media.
Her departure follows that of several other well-known Liberals, who have left the party in the past year following its decision to campaign for a government supported by the far-right Sweden Democrats. Former party leader Bengt Westerberg said ahead of the election that he would vote for the Centre Party, as did former minister Birgitta Ohlsson.
Swedish vocabulary: to leave – att lämna
Sweden’s unemployment at lowest level in 14 years
The financial crisis has not yet hit the labour market in Sweden, where unemployment stands at its lowest level since March 2009, according to the Public Employment Service. A total of 6.3 percent of people aged 16-65 are registered as unemployed.
But experts believe the trend may not last.
“I think this strong development will soon reach an end. It looks like the redundancies will come later,” a Public Employment Service market analyst told the TT newswire.
Swedish vocabulary: unemployment – arbetslöshet
No deal struck as rail strike threat looms
No agreement had been struck between Sweden’s rail companies and unions by 6.45am on Thursday (the time of publication), the day when a potential strike was set to begin.
Members of the Seko union were set to walk out at 3pm if no agreement had been reached by then, in protest at the rail companies’ refusal to enter negotiations over more predictable timetables and shift schedules for drivers.
The union has divided the industrial action into three separate stages, with the first one mainly affecting Öresundståg trains travelling from across southern Sweden over the bridge to Copenhagen, and to a lesser extent SL commuter traffic in Stockholm. SJ long-distance trains could also be affected from May 12th, SJ writes on its website.
If negotiations remain unsuccessful, the next stages will go under way on May 15th and 18th. Here’s a list of the key dates on which train travellers may be affected in Sweden.
Swedish vocabulary: a strike – en strejk
Fans in frenzy as Beyonce kicks off concert tour in Stockholm
The 60,000-capacity Friends Arena north of Stockholm was filled to the brim last night with ecstatic Beyonce fans as the superstar kicked off her first solo tour in seven years.
“Just want to say: Y’all make me so happy,” Beyonce said as the concert began, reported the AFP news agency. “I see familiar faces, people that flew from very, very far to come see the first show tonight,” she told the audience at the outset of the three-hour show.
Tickets for Beyonce’s opening show of the Renaissance World Tour sold out so quickly that organisers added a second concert at the same venue for Thursday. From there, she goes to Brussels this weekend. The tour is set to continue until September.
Swedish vocabulary: a superstar – en superstjärna
EU court overturns approval of SAS and Lufthansa Covid bailouts
An EU court on Wednesday overturned the European Commission's decision to approve massive government bailouts for Scandinavia's SAS airline and Germany’s Lufthansa during the coronavirus pandemic, after a legal challenge by rival airlines.
In 2020, the European Commission approved a bailout of just over one billion euros ($1.1 billion) for SAS from Sweden and Denmark. Lufthansa in the same year received a multi-billion-euro cash injection to save it from collapse as the pandemic brought air travel to a halt.
In the case of Lufthansa, the EU General Court, Europe’s second-highest court, said the commission “committed several errors”, and annulled its decision to approve six billion euros of bailout funds.
The court also ruled against the commission’s decision on the aid for long-troubled SAS, in response to a complaint brought by Ryanair.
Swedish vocabulary: a court – en domstol
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