Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Train evacuated over bag of Christmas presents, Moderates pay the price of Sweden Democrat collaboration in new poll, and Sweden could join Nato 'in a couple of weeks' according to foreign minister. Here's the latest news.
Train evacuated over bag of Christmas presents
A train from Denmark to Sweden was evacuated and Hyllie station in Malmö was cordoned off on Tuesday evening after passengers alerted staff to a man who had left a bag behind before getting off the train.
The train was moved to a secure location to be examined by the national bomb squad, who used a robot to open the bag. Police were then able to confirm the contents were not suspicious.
“It was full of Christmas presents,” police control officer Thomas Söderberg told the TT newswire.
Sweden earlier this year raised its national terror threat level from three to four.
“People are aware of that and react to incidents that are out of the ordinary and then contact us. Because we can’t dismiss the danger based on the initial information we have, we have to check it out,” said Söderberg, adding that police would try to get hold of the owner of the bag.
Swedish vocabulary: Christmas presents – julklappar
Moderates pay the price of Sweden Democrat collaboration
The Moderates, who head up Sweden's governing coalition, have dropped from 19 to 16 percent in DN/Ipsos latest poll, consolidating the far-right Sweden Democrats' position as the biggest party on the right, despite the latter's result remaining unchanged in the past month.
The Sweden Democrats now enjoy the support of 21 percent of voters. The other two parties that make up the so-called Tidö coalition, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, meanwhile remain far behind at 4 and 3 percent, respectively, in the same poll.
"The government parties are paying the price of the Tidö collaboration. The Sweden Democrats are so far untouched. For them being involved in running the country does not yet come at a cost," Ipsos analyst Nicklas Källebring told DN.
On the left-wing side, the Social Democrats are steaming ahead at 36 percent, followed by the Left Party at 8 percent, the Green Party at 5 percent and the Centre Party at 4 percent.
The poll was carried out through 1,662 interviews in the weeks of November 13th-26th.
Swedish vocabulary: a poll – en undersökning
Foreign Minister: Sweden could join Nato 'in a couple of weeks'
Sweden's long journey towards Nato membership may reach its destination "in a couple of weeks", Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told TT after speaking with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.
"He said that he hopes Sweden will become a member in a couple of weeks," said Billström.
Billström declined to confirm whether "a couple" meant two weeks exactly or longer.
"I don't define 'weeks'. I'm only saying what the Turkish foreign minister said. He said 'member'," said Billström.
Turkey and Hungary are the only two countries that haven't yet ratified Sweden's Nato membership, with Hungary pledging it won't be the last country to do so.
Swedish vocabulary: in a couple of weeks – om ett par veckor
Twenty warships to patrol Baltic and North Atlantic
Ten northern European countries have agreed to boost their naval presence in the Baltic Sea to protect critical infrastructure, following gas pipeline leaks.
After a meeting of defence ministers of the 10 countries in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), the group said it had agreed to activate "a JEF Response Option".
"This includes Maritime and Air capabilities which will deploy across the JEF's core region as a military contribution to the protection of critical undersea infrastructure," the ministers said in a joint declaration quoted by the AFP news agency.
"This marks the first time a JEF Response Option has been activated," they continued, adding the "activity will take place in early December".
"It is about conducting maritime surveillance, some 20 warships will be active in the Baltic Sea but also in parts of the North Atlantic to take into account the security situation and better protect critical underwater infrastructure," Swedish Minister for Defence Pål Jonson told public broadcaster SVT.
Swedish vocabulary: a defence minister – en försvarsminister
Comments
See Also
Train evacuated over bag of Christmas presents
A train from Denmark to Sweden was evacuated and Hyllie station in Malmö was cordoned off on Tuesday evening after passengers alerted staff to a man who had left a bag behind before getting off the train.
The train was moved to a secure location to be examined by the national bomb squad, who used a robot to open the bag. Police were then able to confirm the contents were not suspicious.
“It was full of Christmas presents,” police control officer Thomas Söderberg told the TT newswire.
Sweden earlier this year raised its national terror threat level from three to four.
“People are aware of that and react to incidents that are out of the ordinary and then contact us. Because we can’t dismiss the danger based on the initial information we have, we have to check it out,” said Söderberg, adding that police would try to get hold of the owner of the bag.
Swedish vocabulary: Christmas presents – julklappar
Moderates pay the price of Sweden Democrat collaboration
The Moderates, who head up Sweden's governing coalition, have dropped from 19 to 16 percent in DN/Ipsos latest poll, consolidating the far-right Sweden Democrats' position as the biggest party on the right, despite the latter's result remaining unchanged in the past month.
The Sweden Democrats now enjoy the support of 21 percent of voters. The other two parties that make up the so-called Tidö coalition, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, meanwhile remain far behind at 4 and 3 percent, respectively, in the same poll.
"The government parties are paying the price of the Tidö collaboration. The Sweden Democrats are so far untouched. For them being involved in running the country does not yet come at a cost," Ipsos analyst Nicklas Källebring told DN.
On the left-wing side, the Social Democrats are steaming ahead at 36 percent, followed by the Left Party at 8 percent, the Green Party at 5 percent and the Centre Party at 4 percent.
The poll was carried out through 1,662 interviews in the weeks of November 13th-26th.
Swedish vocabulary: a poll – en undersökning
Foreign Minister: Sweden could join Nato 'in a couple of weeks'
Sweden's long journey towards Nato membership may reach its destination "in a couple of weeks", Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told TT after speaking with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, at a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.
"He said that he hopes Sweden will become a member in a couple of weeks," said Billström.
Billström declined to confirm whether "a couple" meant two weeks exactly or longer.
"I don't define 'weeks'. I'm only saying what the Turkish foreign minister said. He said 'member'," said Billström.
Turkey and Hungary are the only two countries that haven't yet ratified Sweden's Nato membership, with Hungary pledging it won't be the last country to do so.
Swedish vocabulary: in a couple of weeks – om ett par veckor
Twenty warships to patrol Baltic and North Atlantic
Ten northern European countries have agreed to boost their naval presence in the Baltic Sea to protect critical infrastructure, following gas pipeline leaks.
After a meeting of defence ministers of the 10 countries in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), the group said it had agreed to activate "a JEF Response Option".
"This includes Maritime and Air capabilities which will deploy across the JEF's core region as a military contribution to the protection of critical undersea infrastructure," the ministers said in a joint declaration quoted by the AFP news agency.
"This marks the first time a JEF Response Option has been activated," they continued, adding the "activity will take place in early December".
"It is about conducting maritime surveillance, some 20 warships will be active in the Baltic Sea but also in parts of the North Atlantic to take into account the security situation and better protect critical underwater infrastructure," Swedish Minister for Defence Pål Jonson told public broadcaster SVT.
Swedish vocabulary: a defence minister – en försvarsminister
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.