This year's elections for the European Parliament will be held on June 9th across Europe, but in Sweden advance voting opens on May 22nd, with 21 seats up for grabs.
Sweden elects its MEPs through direct proportional representation, so that parties gain the number of MEPs equivalent to their share of the overall vote. But exactly who gets to be an MEP is decided in advance by the parties who publish their candidate lists in priority order.
This article is a guide to the Swedish parties currently represented in the European Parliament and the individuals heading the lists for each party (toppkandidater – top candidates). The parties are listed in the order of how they performed in the 2019 European elections.
If you want to know how the election actually works and who's eligible to vote, read this article instead.
Campaign slogan: Do something great
Current number of seats: 5
Top candidate: Heléne Fritzon
Heléne Fritzon has been a member of the European parliament since 2019. Her previous career includes being migration minister and deputy justice minister under Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, and before that she was mayor of Kristianstad. She’s also a certified primary school teacher.
The Social Democrats want to strengthen European cohesion according to their election manifesto, using the EU to combat security threats, climate emissions, crime and the cost of living crisis.
They want, among other things, more aid for Ukraine and tougher sanctions on Russia, improved civil crisis management so that the union is better equipped to handle disasters, stronger work against disinformation, abortion rights included in the constitution, tougher migration rules, and that it should be possible to expel member states that can no longer be considered to be democracies.
The Social Democrats belong to the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European parliament, a centre-left group primarily comprised of fellow social democrats.
Campaign slogan: For a free and secure Europe
Current number of seats: 4
Top candidate: Tomas Tobé
Tomas Tobé has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019.
He’s born in Gävle and is a well-known member of the Moderates, having represented the party as party secretary and chaired several parliamentary committees during his 13 years as a member of Sweden’s national parliament. He’s also got a background in business and entrepreneurship.
In his own words, he wants to prevent criminals from taking advantage of the European free movement, invest in renewable and nuclear energy, strictly regulate immigration, increase growth and see more efficient use of the EU’s foreign aid budget to improve global security and stability.
The Moderates are also in favour of including the right to abortion in EU’s constitution, cutting down on red tape and making sure that Sweden, not Brussels, sets the rules for its forest industry.
In the European parliament, the Moderates belong to the European People's Party (EPP), a centre-right group gathering conservative, liberal-conservative and Christian democratic parties.
Campaign slogan: My Europe builds walls
Current number of seats: 3
Top candidate: Charlie Weimers
Charlie Weimers has been a member of the European parliament since 2019. He has only been a member of the Sweden Democrats since 2018 – prior to this he was a member of the Christian Democrats for two decades, and before that he was a member of the Moderates’ youth wing.
The far-right Sweden Democrats believe that “Europe is at war – Islamism, gang crime and insecurity is spreading while Brussels’ supranationalism has never been as intrusive as it is today” and, in his own words, Weimers wants to strengthen the EU’s borders, vote no to raising Sweden’s fee to the EU and reclaim power from Brussels, stop Islamic extremism and ship asylum seekers to third countries.
The Sweden Democrats toned down their Swexit rhetoric in the years following Brexit, but remain strong sceptics of the EU and last year called for a “reevaluation” of Sweden’s membership.
The party belongs to the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European parliament, a right-wing group with largely Eurosceptic and nationally conservative values.
Campaign slogan: The climate, the climate, the climate
Current number of seats: 3
Top candidate: Alice Bah Kuhnke
Alice Bah Kuhnke has been a member of the European parliament since 2019. Before that she was a member of parliament and was culture and democracy minister in Stefan Löfven’s government. Prior to her political career she was a television journalist. She is one of Sweden’s most well-known MEPs but has repeatedly declined taking over as Green Party leader.
The Green Party usually performs much better in the EU election than in the Swedish national election, where it’s currently languishing close to the four-percent parliamentary threshold.
Their EU campaign has one overarching focus, in case you didn’t guess: the climate. This includes cutting emissions, promoting a circular economy, banning fossil fuel subsidies, banning flights within the EU on routes where it would take less than three hours to take the train, closing all coal plants before 2030, investing in renewable energy, and not considering nuclear power as renewable or sustainable.
It also wants to protect the rights of asylum seekers and work against racism and discrimination.
The Green Party belongs to the Greens/European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) group in the European parliament, which promotes environmental issues and the rights of minorities.
Campaign slogan: Hold the line
Current number of seats: 2
Top candidate: Emma Wiesner
Emma Wiesner has been a member of the European parliament since 2021, when she replaced Fredrick Federley. A civil engineer by trade, her previous jobs include working as an analyst for tech consultancy company Sweco and with public affairs in sustainability for Northvolt.
The Centre Party wants to “hold the line” against homophobia, xenophobia, climate deniers, populists and Russia, and while it is EU friendly it’s against over-regulation and wants to prevent Brussels bureaucrats from meddling in, for example, the Swedish forestry industry.
It wants to increase support for Ukraine, expel EU member states that are no longer democracies, cut EU funding for countries that don’t take responsibility for the climate, ban fossil fuel plants from 2035, cut emissions, and use trade sanctions against countries such as Russia, China and Iran.
The Centre Party belongs to the liberal and pro-EU Renew Europe group in the European parliament.
Campaign slogan: Borders and freedom
Current number of seats: 2
Top candidate: Alice Teodorescu Måwe
Alice Teodorescu Måwe unexpectedly became the party’s top candidate after its previous MEP Sara Skyttedal was ousted in a political drama that made 80s TV show Dynasty look meek. Skyttedal has since launched her own political party, Folklistan, which will be contesting the EU elections.
Teodorescu Måwe joined the Christian Democrats the day before she was announced as their candidate. She has previously worked for the Moderates and as a former political journalist is known for being firmly on the right, but has never before formally represented a political party.
The Christian Democrats want the EU to “return to its core mission, guaranteeing peace, freedom and free trade” and it wants Brussels to take a hands-off approach to issues such as social policy, health care and labour markets, and want minimal EU regulations of forest and agriculture.
It does however want the EU to strengthen its security cooperation, fast-track electrification and nuclear investment and make migrants apply for asylum before and not upon arriving in Europe.
The Christian Democrats, like the Moderates, belong to the EPP group.
Campaign slogan: Climate, welfare, faith in the future
Current number of seats: 1
Top candidate: Jonas Sjöstedt
Jonas Sjöstedt is most known as the former leader of the Left Party, but he also has a long career within the European parliament, where he served from 1995-2009. He was a member of the Swedish parliament from 2010 until 2020, when he resigned as Left Party leader.
The Left Party and the Sweden Democrats are as far from each other as you can get on the political spectrum, but they have one thing in common: they are EU sceptics who both dropped their calls for a Swexit referendum in the run-up to the last European election in 2019.
They want to stop the climate crisis, lower prices of food and electricity and boost democracy, and believe that politicians and not the market are responsible for welfare and prosperity. They are still against expanding the EU’s power over economy and welfare, and are against the Euro.
The Left Party belongs to the Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL group, which is home to parties with democratic socialist, communist (although the Swedish Left Party dropped communist from its name and manifesto in the 1990s) and generally Eurosceptic values.
Campaign slogan: Stronger Europe, Stronger Sweden
Current number of seats: 1
Top candidate: Karin Karlsbro
Karin Karlsbro has been a member of the European parliament since 2019. She has previously worked for the Liberals as a councillor in Norrtälje, administrative director at the Liberals’ parliament office, and chief of staff for then-Integration Minister Nyamko Sabuni. Before returning to politics in 2019, she was chief sustainability officer for a major Stockholm property firm.
Karlsbro wants Brussels to stick together to help Ukraine win the war against Russia, make the EU the world’s most important environmental organisation, and set up a new European police force.
The Liberals also want to protect the right to abortion in the EU constitution and toughen up sanctions on countries that violate press freedom, LGBTQI rights and the justice system.
They are traditionally the most EU-friendly party in Sweden and want to adopt the Euro.
The Liberals belong to Renew Europe, like the Centre Party.
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