Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
What's on the agenda for Macron's Sweden visit, train tickets for spring and early summer to be released, and famous Swedish sport commentator dies aged 81. Here's the latest news.
What's on the agenda for Macron's Sweden visit?
French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte arrive in Stockholm on Tuesday for the start of a two-day visit.
Macron will be accompanied on his visit by several ministers in his government, by a business delegation, and by representatives from France's parliament, government agencies, and cultural groups.
According to a post by the Swedish embassy in Paris, the aim of the visit is to "further strengthen the broad and unique relationship between Sweden and France", and to "stimulate cooperation in innovation, the green transition and defence".
Here's what's on the agenda.
Swedish vocabulary: a visit – ett besök
Blinken expects Hungary to approve Swedish Nato membership "in the coming weeks"
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expects Hungary to approve Sweden's membership of Nato shortly after the country's parliament reopens on February 26th.
“Hungary now will have to act in order to complete the process of Sweden’s accession, but I fully anticipate that that will happen in the weeks ahead when Hungary’s Parliament returns,” Blinken told reporters on Monday.
After Turkey's ratification last week, Hungary is the last of Nato's 31 countries not to have approved Sweden's membership.
Swedish economy 'shrank in 2023 but has started to recover'
Sweden's economy shrank by 0.3 percent in 2023 but technically emerged from recession in the last three months of the year, official statistics showed on Monday.
One of the weakest performers in the European Union, the Scandinavian country had entered recession in the third quarter but it grew 0.1 percent between October and December, the report from Statistics Sweden showed.
But a "strengthening" of net exports helped to offset weaknesses elsewhere in the economy in the fourth quarter, said Mattias Kain Wyatt, economist at the government agency.
Swedish vocabulary: shrank – krympte
Train tickets for spring and early summer to be released
Swedish train operator SJ on Wednesday is set to release tickets for the period of April 9th to June 3rd.
However, one third of departures won't be possible to book, due to a shortage of trains. The trains need extra repairs and maintenance following the harsh winter, an SJ press spokesperson told Swedish news agency TT.
Some routes also await further information from the Swedish Transport Administration about planned railway maintenance before SJ can open bookings.
Swedish vocabulary: a train ticket – en tågbiljett
Swedish sport commentator dies aged 81
Swedish sport commentator Arne Hegerfors died aged 81 on Monday.
Hegerfors started his career in radio in Gothenburg before joining SVT Sport in 1969.
He commented some of Sweden's biggest sport events and hosted several television shows, and was one of the country's best known sport commentators.
Swedish vocabulary: a career – en karriär
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What's on the agenda for Macron's Sweden visit?
French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte arrive in Stockholm on Tuesday for the start of a two-day visit.
Macron will be accompanied on his visit by several ministers in his government, by a business delegation, and by representatives from France's parliament, government agencies, and cultural groups.
According to a post by the Swedish embassy in Paris, the aim of the visit is to "further strengthen the broad and unique relationship between Sweden and France", and to "stimulate cooperation in innovation, the green transition and defence".
Here's what's on the agenda.
Swedish vocabulary: a visit – ett besök
Blinken expects Hungary to approve Swedish Nato membership "in the coming weeks"
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expects Hungary to approve Sweden's membership of Nato shortly after the country's parliament reopens on February 26th.
“Hungary now will have to act in order to complete the process of Sweden’s accession, but I fully anticipate that that will happen in the weeks ahead when Hungary’s Parliament returns,” Blinken told reporters on Monday.
After Turkey's ratification last week, Hungary is the last of Nato's 31 countries not to have approved Sweden's membership.
Swedish economy 'shrank in 2023 but has started to recover'
Sweden's economy shrank by 0.3 percent in 2023 but technically emerged from recession in the last three months of the year, official statistics showed on Monday.
One of the weakest performers in the European Union, the Scandinavian country had entered recession in the third quarter but it grew 0.1 percent between October and December, the report from Statistics Sweden showed.
But a "strengthening" of net exports helped to offset weaknesses elsewhere in the economy in the fourth quarter, said Mattias Kain Wyatt, economist at the government agency.
Swedish vocabulary: shrank – krympte
Train tickets for spring and early summer to be released
Swedish train operator SJ on Wednesday is set to release tickets for the period of April 9th to June 3rd.
However, one third of departures won't be possible to book, due to a shortage of trains. The trains need extra repairs and maintenance following the harsh winter, an SJ press spokesperson told Swedish news agency TT.
Some routes also await further information from the Swedish Transport Administration about planned railway maintenance before SJ can open bookings.
Swedish vocabulary: a train ticket – en tågbiljett
Swedish sport commentator dies aged 81
Swedish sport commentator Arne Hegerfors died aged 81 on Monday.
Hegerfors started his career in radio in Gothenburg before joining SVT Sport in 1969.
He commented some of Sweden's biggest sport events and hosted several television shows, and was one of the country's best known sport commentators.
Swedish vocabulary: a career – en karriär
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