Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
Orbán promises military deal with Sweden, Swedish trains least punctual in 13 years, and Tesla strike expands to charging stations. Here's the latest news.
Orbán promises military deal with Sweden
Hungary and Sweden are to sign deal around their defence industries when Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson visits Budapest on Friday, Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orbán has said in an interview with Hungarian radio.
The two leaders are scheduled to hold a joint meeting around lunchtime on Friday. Sweden is hoping that the visit will be the final formality before Hungary's parliament votes to approve Sweden's Nato membership on Monday.
Swedish vocabulary: ett avtal - an agreement
Sweden's trains more often late than at any time since 2010
The punctuality of trains in Sweden has hit its lowest level since 2010, with roughly one in eight trains failing to reach their final station within six minutes of their scheduled arrival time, according to the latest annual report from the Swedish Transport Administration.
The punctuality rate of 87.7 percent for 2023 fell far below the Swedish rail industry's 95 percent target was was the worst rate for 13 years.
According to the admnistration, delays in 2023 were the result of accidents, flooding, snow and signal faults, with an incident where the Arlanda Express came off its tracks being the biggest single cause of delays, as it forced all traffic on this busy route onto a single track and required all trains to reduce speed while repairs were made.
Swedish vocabulary: punktlighet - punctuality
Sweden's population growth slowest in 22 years as fertility rate drops to record low
Sweden's population grew by 30,200 people to 10.5 million last year, the smallest population increase in absolute terms since 2001, official statistics showed on Thursday, as the country has sought to curb immigration.
A combination of "a decrease in the number of births, a lower number of immigrations as well as a higher number of emigrations are the reasons for the lower population increase during 2023 compared to previous years," Statistics Sweden said.
According to the agency, 94,500 people immigrated to Sweden last year, an eight percent decrease from the previous year, while 73,400 people emigrated from the country, a 45 percent increase.
Swedish vocabulary: folkökning - population growth
Swedish Tesla strike expands to include charging stations
An almost four-month long strike in Sweden against carmaker Tesla over its refusal to sign a collective wage agreement will be extended to include a blockade on charging stations, a union said.
Swedish union Seko said it would halt maintenance on, and the installation of, Tesla charging stations.
The Swedish strike was launched by the metal workers' union IF Metall on October 27th when mechanics at 10 Tesla repair shops in seven cities walked off the job.
It has since grown into a larger conflict between Tesla and almost a dozen unions seeking to protect Sweden's labour model, including postal workers, dock workers and even spreading to neighbouring Nordic countries.
The Swedish Union for Service and Communications Employees (Seko) said its measures included "the blocking of work on planning, preparation, new connections, network expansion, service, maintenance and repairs for all Tesla charging stations in Sweden."
It said the industrial action would come into force on March 4th.
Swedish vocabulary: laddstationer - charging stations
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Orbán promises military deal with Sweden
Hungary and Sweden are to sign deal around their defence industries when Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson visits Budapest on Friday, Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orbán has said in an interview with Hungarian radio.
The two leaders are scheduled to hold a joint meeting around lunchtime on Friday. Sweden is hoping that the visit will be the final formality before Hungary's parliament votes to approve Sweden's Nato membership on Monday.
Swedish vocabulary: ett avtal - an agreement
Sweden's trains more often late than at any time since 2010
The punctuality of trains in Sweden has hit its lowest level since 2010, with roughly one in eight trains failing to reach their final station within six minutes of their scheduled arrival time, according to the latest annual report from the Swedish Transport Administration.
The punctuality rate of 87.7 percent for 2023 fell far below the Swedish rail industry's 95 percent target was was the worst rate for 13 years.
According to the admnistration, delays in 2023 were the result of accidents, flooding, snow and signal faults, with an incident where the Arlanda Express came off its tracks being the biggest single cause of delays, as it forced all traffic on this busy route onto a single track and required all trains to reduce speed while repairs were made.
Swedish vocabulary: punktlighet - punctuality
Sweden's population growth slowest in 22 years as fertility rate drops to record low
Sweden's population grew by 30,200 people to 10.5 million last year, the smallest population increase in absolute terms since 2001, official statistics showed on Thursday, as the country has sought to curb immigration.
A combination of "a decrease in the number of births, a lower number of immigrations as well as a higher number of emigrations are the reasons for the lower population increase during 2023 compared to previous years," Statistics Sweden said.
According to the agency, 94,500 people immigrated to Sweden last year, an eight percent decrease from the previous year, while 73,400 people emigrated from the country, a 45 percent increase.
Swedish vocabulary: folkökning - population growth
Swedish Tesla strike expands to include charging stations
An almost four-month long strike in Sweden against carmaker Tesla over its refusal to sign a collective wage agreement will be extended to include a blockade on charging stations, a union said.
Swedish union Seko said it would halt maintenance on, and the installation of, Tesla charging stations.
The Swedish strike was launched by the metal workers' union IF Metall on October 27th when mechanics at 10 Tesla repair shops in seven cities walked off the job.
It has since grown into a larger conflict between Tesla and almost a dozen unions seeking to protect Sweden's labour model, including postal workers, dock workers and even spreading to neighbouring Nordic countries.
The Swedish Union for Service and Communications Employees (Seko) said its measures included "the blocking of work on planning, preparation, new connections, network expansion, service, maintenance and repairs for all Tesla charging stations in Sweden."
It said the industrial action would come into force on March 4th.
Swedish vocabulary: laddstationer - charging stations
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