Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
Explosion heard in large parts of Stockholm, Storm Ingunn breaks hurricane record in Sweden and inquiry recommends storing food to strengthen resilience for war. Here's the latest news.
Sweden breaks wind speed record as hurricane batters north
Stekenjokk recorded wind speeds of 186.4 kilometres per hour, or a category three hurricane, early on Thursday morning as Storm Ingunn hit the north of Sweden. The figures were confirmed late on Thursday, which means Sweden has a new wind speed record.
SMHI issued Sweden’s most severe weather warning, a red warning, for the north-westernmost areas of Norrbotten on Thursday, due to extreme high winds which were expected to generally stay around 120-125 km/h.
The red warning has now been removed, with the storm largely having subsided by Friday.
Swedish vocabulary: a hurricane – en orkan
Swedish and Hungarian prime ministers discuss Nato at EU summit
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán during an EU summit in Brussels.
"We sat in a corner of the room immediately after the summit, just he and I, and discussed for a while," Swedish news agency TT quoted Kristersson as telling reporters.
Hungary is the last remaining country not to have approved Sweden's Nato application, after almost two years. But Kristersson's informal chat with Orbán didn't appear to result in any moves to speed up the country's ratification, which needs parliamentary approval.
"He reiterated that parliament opens on the 26th [of February], nothing else. I didn't get any new dates," said Kristersson.
He said he would be unlikely to meet Orbán in Budapest before Hungary's vote.
"I don't have a date yet, but it's natural that we would meet when we've become members. We'll have much more to talk about as members."
Swedish vocabulary: a date – ett datum
Explosion heard in large parts of Stockholm
An explosion in an apartment building in Sundbyberg, north of Stockholm, could be heard in large parts of Stockholm shortly after 2am on Friday. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the blast damaged both the building and cars parked nearby.
Police were not immediately able to say what caused the explosion.
Earlier, in a separate incident on Thursday evening, Sweden's national bomb squad detonated a hand grenade found outside an apartment building in Gränby, Uppsala. Residents in the area were told to stay inside until police had managed to remove the grenade.
Swedish vocabulary: a hand grenade – en handgranat
Swedish inquiry recommends storing food to strengthen resilience for war
A new inquiry has recommended that Sweden rebuild its food stores to better prepare the country in the face of a war or crisis.
“This is ultimately about the survival of the population,” said Ingrid Petersson, who led the inquiry.
Back in 2022, Sweden’s previous government tasked an inquiry with proposing a plan for Sweden’s food preparedness in the case of a crisis, including the role of Swedish businesses in preparing the country.
The conclusions of this inquiry, which were presented to Sweden’s minister of rural affairs, Peter Kullgren, on Thursday, recommend rebuilding Sweden’s food stores so that essential foods like bread, pasta and oatmeal could be produced at short notice.
Swedish vocabulary: survival – överlevnad
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Sweden breaks wind speed record as hurricane batters north
Stekenjokk recorded wind speeds of 186.4 kilometres per hour, or a category three hurricane, early on Thursday morning as Storm Ingunn hit the north of Sweden. The figures were confirmed late on Thursday, which means Sweden has a new wind speed record.
SMHI issued Sweden’s most severe weather warning, a red warning, for the north-westernmost areas of Norrbotten on Thursday, due to extreme high winds which were expected to generally stay around 120-125 km/h.
The red warning has now been removed, with the storm largely having subsided by Friday.
Swedish vocabulary: a hurricane – en orkan
Swedish and Hungarian prime ministers discuss Nato at EU summit
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán during an EU summit in Brussels.
"We sat in a corner of the room immediately after the summit, just he and I, and discussed for a while," Swedish news agency TT quoted Kristersson as telling reporters.
Hungary is the last remaining country not to have approved Sweden's Nato application, after almost two years. But Kristersson's informal chat with Orbán didn't appear to result in any moves to speed up the country's ratification, which needs parliamentary approval.
"He reiterated that parliament opens on the 26th [of February], nothing else. I didn't get any new dates," said Kristersson.
He said he would be unlikely to meet Orbán in Budapest before Hungary's vote.
"I don't have a date yet, but it's natural that we would meet when we've become members. We'll have much more to talk about as members."
Swedish vocabulary: a date – ett datum
Explosion heard in large parts of Stockholm
An explosion in an apartment building in Sundbyberg, north of Stockholm, could be heard in large parts of Stockholm shortly after 2am on Friday. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the blast damaged both the building and cars parked nearby.
Police were not immediately able to say what caused the explosion.
Earlier, in a separate incident on Thursday evening, Sweden's national bomb squad detonated a hand grenade found outside an apartment building in Gränby, Uppsala. Residents in the area were told to stay inside until police had managed to remove the grenade.
Swedish vocabulary: a hand grenade – en handgranat
Swedish inquiry recommends storing food to strengthen resilience for war
A new inquiry has recommended that Sweden rebuild its food stores to better prepare the country in the face of a war or crisis.
“This is ultimately about the survival of the population,” said Ingrid Petersson, who led the inquiry.
Back in 2022, Sweden’s previous government tasked an inquiry with proposing a plan for Sweden’s food preparedness in the case of a crisis, including the role of Swedish businesses in preparing the country.
The conclusions of this inquiry, which were presented to Sweden’s minister of rural affairs, Peter Kullgren, on Thursday, recommend rebuilding Sweden’s food stores so that essential foods like bread, pasta and oatmeal could be produced at short notice.
Swedish vocabulary: survival – överlevnad
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