Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
Far-right Sweden Democrats see falling support, Social Democrat MP lobbied Migration Agency for imam, and other news from Sweden on Friday.
Sweden Democrats see fall in support in poll
The slow but steady rise in support for the far-right Sweden Democrats has come to an end, according to a new poll by Verian for public broadcaster SVT. The poll shows support for the party in February slipping 1.1 percent to 21.4 percent , compared to 22.5 percent in January.
"One possible explanation to the drop-off could be that the focus at the start of the year has been on defence and foreign policy rather than on law and order," Per Söderpalm, who is responsible for opinion polls at Verian, told the broadcaster.
Swedish vocabulary: en avmattning - slowdown, drop off
Government rejects Social Democrat plan to boost weapon production for Ukraine
The government and its Sweden Democrat allies have rejected a Social Democrat proposal to offer state credit guarantees to help Swedish defence manufacturers increase production of ammunition for Ukraine.
EU countries have promised Ukraine a million artillery shells but at the end of last year, Ukraine's military complained they had recieved less than a third of the promised support.
"They could have come through on this," said Peter Hultqvist, the Social Democrats' defence spokesperson, who launched the proposal at Sweden's Folk och Forsvar defence conference.
"Ukraine is a war which concerns us to the highest degree and I think it's a sign of weakness that they aren't doing this."
Swedish vocabulary: ett svaghetstecken - a sign of weakness
Social Democrat MP Jamal El-Haj accused of ringing Migration Agency on behalf of Egyptian imam
Jamal El-Haj, the Social Democrat MP who has been under pressure since visiting a pro-Hamas Palestinian festival in Malmö last year, has been accused of ringing the Migration Agency to lobby on behalf of an Egyptian imam.
According to a report in the Expressen newspaper, El-Haj rung a case officer at the agency and told him that he "wanted to provide witness evidence which would show the importance of the applicant being able to stay in Sweden, and that it would be a loss for Sweden if the applicant were deported".
Expressen claimed that the imam preached at a mosque in Skåne which has been associated with Islamic extremists.
One of the two Salafi preachers he shared the podium with was later identified as a threat to Sweden's security. The imam has also shared posts from the Muslim Brotherhood, which is designated a terror group in the US.
In a statement to Expressen, El-Haj said that he had hoped "to convey information which was relevant and of benefit to society".
"i realise now that the case officer could have seen this as a way of trying to influence them. I now realise it was wrong to act that was. I was new to the parliament then and now I would act differently."
Swedish vocabulary: att påverka - to influence
Sweden's government to bring in stop-and-search zones in March
Sweden's government has said it will bring in its controversial stop-and-search zones from March, with police then empowered to carry out bodily searches for drugs and weapons without a concrete suspicion.
From March 28th, police in Sweden will be able to temporarily declare any area one of its so-called "security zones", or säkerhetszoner, if there is a tangible risk of shootings or attacks with explosives as a result of gang conflicts.
Once an area has received this designation, police will then be able to search people and cars within the area without any concrete suspicion.
According to Mats Melin, police spokesperson for the Liberal Party, even wearing clothes or fashion associated with gang criminality could be sufficient grounds to be stopped.
"Police have an extremely good picture of how gang criminals dress and behave, and it's different from that of well-behaved youth in these areas," he said. "Not everyone who wears a Gucci cap is a gang criminal, but many gang criminals do wear them. There's a certain style that goes with being a gang criminal."
Swedish vocabulary: Guccikeps - a Gucci baseball cap
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Sweden Democrats see fall in support in poll
The slow but steady rise in support for the far-right Sweden Democrats has come to an end, according to a new poll by Verian for public broadcaster SVT. The poll shows support for the party in February slipping 1.1 percent to 21.4 percent , compared to 22.5 percent in January.
"One possible explanation to the drop-off could be that the focus at the start of the year has been on defence and foreign policy rather than on law and order," Per Söderpalm, who is responsible for opinion polls at Verian, told the broadcaster.
Swedish vocabulary: en avmattning - slowdown, drop off
Government rejects Social Democrat plan to boost weapon production for Ukraine
The government and its Sweden Democrat allies have rejected a Social Democrat proposal to offer state credit guarantees to help Swedish defence manufacturers increase production of ammunition for Ukraine.
EU countries have promised Ukraine a million artillery shells but at the end of last year, Ukraine's military complained they had recieved less than a third of the promised support.
"They could have come through on this," said Peter Hultqvist, the Social Democrats' defence spokesperson, who launched the proposal at Sweden's Folk och Forsvar defence conference.
"Ukraine is a war which concerns us to the highest degree and I think it's a sign of weakness that they aren't doing this."
Swedish vocabulary: ett svaghetstecken - a sign of weakness
Social Democrat MP Jamal El-Haj accused of ringing Migration Agency on behalf of Egyptian imam
Jamal El-Haj, the Social Democrat MP who has been under pressure since visiting a pro-Hamas Palestinian festival in Malmö last year, has been accused of ringing the Migration Agency to lobby on behalf of an Egyptian imam.
According to a report in the Expressen newspaper, El-Haj rung a case officer at the agency and told him that he "wanted to provide witness evidence which would show the importance of the applicant being able to stay in Sweden, and that it would be a loss for Sweden if the applicant were deported".
Expressen claimed that the imam preached at a mosque in Skåne which has been associated with Islamic extremists.
One of the two Salafi preachers he shared the podium with was later identified as a threat to Sweden's security. The imam has also shared posts from the Muslim Brotherhood, which is designated a terror group in the US.
In a statement to Expressen, El-Haj said that he had hoped "to convey information which was relevant and of benefit to society".
"i realise now that the case officer could have seen this as a way of trying to influence them. I now realise it was wrong to act that was. I was new to the parliament then and now I would act differently."
Swedish vocabulary: att påverka - to influence
Sweden's government to bring in stop-and-search zones in March
Sweden's government has said it will bring in its controversial stop-and-search zones from March, with police then empowered to carry out bodily searches for drugs and weapons without a concrete suspicion.
From March 28th, police in Sweden will be able to temporarily declare any area one of its so-called "security zones", or säkerhetszoner, if there is a tangible risk of shootings or attacks with explosives as a result of gang conflicts.
Once an area has received this designation, police will then be able to search people and cars within the area without any concrete suspicion.
According to Mats Melin, police spokesperson for the Liberal Party, even wearing clothes or fashion associated with gang criminality could be sufficient grounds to be stopped.
"Police have an extremely good picture of how gang criminals dress and behave, and it's different from that of well-behaved youth in these areas," he said. "Not everyone who wears a Gucci cap is a gang criminal, but many gang criminals do wear them. There's a certain style that goes with being a gang criminal."
Swedish vocabulary: Guccikeps - a Gucci baseball cap
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