Sweden Democrats again overtake Moderates as most popular right-wing party
After a dead heat in April, the far-right Sweden Democrats have again overtaken the ruling Moderates in a new opinion poll by Indikator on behalf of Swedish public radio broadcaster SR Ekot.
A total of 22.5 percent told the survey they would vote for the Sweden Democrats if an election (note: a Swedish parliamentary election and not the EU election) were held today, which was quite a bit more than the 18.3 percent who said they would vote for the Moderates.
Their Liberals and Christian Democrat allies are still languishing below the four percent threshold for getting into the Swedish parliament, meaning that if an election were indeed held today, the centre-left coalition would win more seats than the right wing.
The centre-left Social Democrats remain the biggest party at around 33 percent. The biggest threat to their bloc majority is the Centre Party, which is only barely above the four percent threshold in the new poll. The Green Party and Left Party got 5.5 and 8.3 percent, respectively.
Swedish vocabulary: an election – ett val
Confidence in far-right leader drops after troll factory revelations
The poll above showed no visible impact on the Sweden Democrats' figures despite recent revelations that the party is operating a so-called troll factory that spreads smear campaigns against other parties and anti-immigration propaganda via anonymous social media accounts.
But a separate poll by Verian on behalf of the Expressen tabloid tells a different story.
It instead looks at voters' confidence in the individual party leaders, and finds that confidence in Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson has fallen seven percentage points compared to February, with only 22 percent saying they now have confidence in Åkesson.
Moderate Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's ratings meanwhile drop to 32 percent, and Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson still enjoys the by far highest ratings at 46 percent, up four percent on February.
At the bottom of the table, Daniel Helldén of the Green Party gets 6 percent, which is still up two percentage points on February.
Swedish vocabulary: confidence in – förtroende för
Why four Sami communities are suing the Swedish state
Four Sami communities are taking the Swedish state to court over the right to grant hunting and fishing rights.
In a landmark case in 2020, Sweden's Supreme Court ruled that the Girjas Sami community and not the state enjoyed an exclusive right to grant other people permission to hunt and fish in their area, because of the time immemorial principle, which enshrines the principle that rights that have long been exercised de facto are assumed to be permanent.
Sami communities Ran, Sirges, Unna Tjerusj and Baste are now arguing that they, and all other Sami communities in Sweden, also enjoy the same right. They further argue that a committee set up by the government in 2021 to investigate possible changes to Swedish laws on reindeer husbandry made the same conclusion, they write in an opinion piece in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
They write that despite this conclusion, "no proposal to change the law has been put forward. We conclude that there is obviously a political unwillingness to accept the legal situation. A political solution that respects the Supreme Court's ruling and Sami rights seems distant".
Swedish vocabulary: time immemorial – urminnes hävd
Swedish restaurants win new Michelin stars
A newly-opened restaurant by Swedish top chef Daniel Berlin was one of several who received new Michelin stars last night. Berlin's Vyn in southern Sweden was awarded two stars, just like his former restaurant in Skåne Tranås, which is now closed.
In Stockholm, Celeste, Dashi and Grand Hôtel Seafood Gastro were each handed one star.
All three-star Nordic restaurants, including Sweden's Frantzén, kept their stars.
Swedish vocabulary: a star – en stjärna
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