Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Sweden's flag to be hoisted at Nato HQ on Monday, snus factory in flames, Israel criticises Sweden over resumed aid, and tax agency warns of increase in scams. Here's the latest news.
Sweden's flag to be hoisted at Nato HQ
Sweden's flag is set to be hoisted at the Nato headquarters in Brussels on Monday, after the country joined the defence alliance last week.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is scheduled to give a joint press conference with Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg at 11.05am.
He'll be joined at the ceremony after the press conference by a number of Swedish dignitaries, including Crown Princess Victoria, the leaders of the pro-Nato parties in parliament (Christian Democrats, Liberals, Social Democrats, Centre Party and Sweden Democrats), Sweden's supreme commander of the Armed Forces, Micael Bydén, and national security adviser Henrik Landerholm.
Ceremonies will also be held at several military bases in Sweden on Monday, attended by government ministers.
Swedish vocabulary: to hoist – att hissa
Swedish snus factory in flames
A large black cloud could be seen over large parts of Gothenburg on Monday morning, after a factory owned by snus producers Swedish Match in Gullbergsvass in eastern parts of the West Sweden city caught fire shortly before 7am.
The building was evacuated and police cordoned off several streets in the area.
No one was injured in the fire.
Swedish Match sold 277 million boxes of snus in Sweden and Norway in 2021.
Used by one in seven Swedes, the moist tobacco has, according to the government, helped slash the number of smokers from 15 percent of the population in 2005 to 5.2 percent last year, a record low in Europe. But its growing popularity is not uncontroversial.
Swedish vocabulary: a cloud – ett moln
Israel criticises Sweden over resumed aid to UN agency for Palestinians
Israel on Saturday slammed Canada and Sweden for resuming aid to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, reiterating claims that UNRWA staff in Gaza were involved in "terrorist activity".
Supporting UNRWA, which has been central to humanitarian efforts in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, was a "serious mistake", the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement.
Canada and Sweden announced over the weekend they were resuming funding for the cash-strapped UN agency, weeks after having suspended it over Israeli accusations that several UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attack that triggered the ongoing war.
Israel's foreign ministry called on both governments to cut funding and "not support an organisation whose ranks include hundreds of members of the Hamas terrorist organisation".
Swedish vocabulary: to resume – att återuppta
Swedish tax agency warns of increase in scams
Sweden's tax agency, Skatteverket, warns of an increase in scams as tax season gets under way.
It's common for fraudsters to claim to be representing the Tax Agency during tax season, aiming to steal people's personal information.
"We're seeing these in all channels. They use fake emails, SMS, letters and in some cases even phone calls. It is particularly common in tax declaration times – just when we're about to send out the tax returns, the e-service opens and it's possible to declare – but above all when it's time for tax rebates," Jan Janowski, an expert at the Tax Agency, told Swedish news agency TT.
The agency stressed that it never asks people for their banking details, with the exception of their e-services, which first require users to log in.
It will be possible to submit your tax return from March 19th.
Swedish vocabulary: tax – skatt
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Sweden's flag to be hoisted at Nato HQ
Sweden's flag is set to be hoisted at the Nato headquarters in Brussels on Monday, after the country joined the defence alliance last week.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is scheduled to give a joint press conference with Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg at 11.05am.
He'll be joined at the ceremony after the press conference by a number of Swedish dignitaries, including Crown Princess Victoria, the leaders of the pro-Nato parties in parliament (Christian Democrats, Liberals, Social Democrats, Centre Party and Sweden Democrats), Sweden's supreme commander of the Armed Forces, Micael Bydén, and national security adviser Henrik Landerholm.
Ceremonies will also be held at several military bases in Sweden on Monday, attended by government ministers.
Swedish vocabulary: to hoist – att hissa
Swedish snus factory in flames
A large black cloud could be seen over large parts of Gothenburg on Monday morning, after a factory owned by snus producers Swedish Match in Gullbergsvass in eastern parts of the West Sweden city caught fire shortly before 7am.
The building was evacuated and police cordoned off several streets in the area.
No one was injured in the fire.
Swedish Match sold 277 million boxes of snus in Sweden and Norway in 2021.
Used by one in seven Swedes, the moist tobacco has, according to the government, helped slash the number of smokers from 15 percent of the population in 2005 to 5.2 percent last year, a record low in Europe. But its growing popularity is not uncontroversial.
Swedish vocabulary: a cloud – ett moln
Israel criticises Sweden over resumed aid to UN agency for Palestinians
Israel on Saturday slammed Canada and Sweden for resuming aid to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, reiterating claims that UNRWA staff in Gaza were involved in "terrorist activity".
Supporting UNRWA, which has been central to humanitarian efforts in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, was a "serious mistake", the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement.
Canada and Sweden announced over the weekend they were resuming funding for the cash-strapped UN agency, weeks after having suspended it over Israeli accusations that several UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attack that triggered the ongoing war.
Israel's foreign ministry called on both governments to cut funding and "not support an organisation whose ranks include hundreds of members of the Hamas terrorist organisation".
Swedish vocabulary: to resume – att återuppta
Swedish tax agency warns of increase in scams
Sweden's tax agency, Skatteverket, warns of an increase in scams as tax season gets under way.
It's common for fraudsters to claim to be representing the Tax Agency during tax season, aiming to steal people's personal information.
"We're seeing these in all channels. They use fake emails, SMS, letters and in some cases even phone calls. It is particularly common in tax declaration times – just when we're about to send out the tax returns, the e-service opens and it's possible to declare – but above all when it's time for tax rebates," Jan Janowski, an expert at the Tax Agency, told Swedish news agency TT.
The agency stressed that it never asks people for their banking details, with the exception of their e-services, which first require users to log in.
It will be possible to submit your tax return from March 19th.
Swedish vocabulary: tax – skatt
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