New stop-and-search zone takes effect in Stockholm
A new security zone in the Diplomatstaden district in central Stockholm means that police may stop and search people and vehicles in the area without concrete suspicion that a crime has been committed.
The zone has been up since 3pm yesterday, with Stockholm police citing an increased security threat in the wake of the US and Israel's joint attack on Iran. The two countries' embassies are both located in Diplomatstaden.
Several other embassies are also located in the area, as well as a church, a park and businesses.
Police said that people still have the right to be in or move through the area, but the decision is meant to create heightened public vigilance as well as have a potentially deterring effect.
The security zone will be in place until April 7th.
Swedish vocabulary: a vehicle – ett fordon
Swedish banks raise mortgage rates following Iran war
SEB, Nordea, SBAB, Swedbank, Danske Bank – some of Sweden's biggest banks – have all raised their fixed mortgage rates in the past few days.
It's because mortgage bonds have got more expensive for the banks after the US and Israeli attack on Iran on February 28th.
"There's then a corresponding increase in mortgage rates. It's expected and reasonable," Stockholm University professor in macro economics, John Hassler, told the TT news agency.
The market prediction right now is that Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, will raise interest rates three to four times between now and the end of 2027.
If faced with stagflation – high inflation at the same time as growth is low – the Riksbank is expected to prioritise inflation, which would prompt it to raise interest rates.
Swedish vocabulary: an interest rate – en ränta
Liberals celebrate Sweden Democrat boost in the polls
The Liberals have for the first time since December 2022 managed to edge above the four percent parliamentary threshold in a poll by Demoskop/Aftonbladet.
The party almost doubled its support from 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent in the past month.
So what's changed? Earlier this month party leader Simona Mohamsson signed a pact with the far-right Sweden Democrats, agreeing to allow the latter to hold ministerial portfolios in a future centre-right government, if the Liberals and the other parties on the right win the 2026 September election. The decision was controversial and further deepened the divisions within the party – but appears to have paid off with voters.
But the increase is not necessarily a win for the right-wing government, as most of the votes appear to be coming from the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Sweden Democrats.
"There's a risk that the support is symbolic, to show appreciation. When a former Sweden Democrat voter now says that they're going to vote for the Liberals, it's not a given that they actually will do so once election day is here," Johan Martinsson, head of opinion at Demoskop, told Aftonbladet.
Swedish vocabulary: a threshold – en tröskel
Why are Swedes set to gorge on waffles today?
Happy Waffle Day!
Today, it’s March 25th. Particularly devout Christians may know it as the Feast of the Annunciation, or the day the archangel Gabriel visited the Virgin Mary and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ.
It’s a particularly major holiday in the Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Lutheran churches, and is usually celebrated with special services and feasts.
But what does all that have to do with waffles? And why is it a big day in Sweden, where so few people are actually practising Christians?
You can read more in The Local's Swedish Fika Calendar.
Swedish vocabulary: a waffle – en våffla
Swedish Migration Agency works to cut backlog as waiting time passes 1,000 days
Three months after the Swedish Migration Agency aimed to clear its backlog of four-year-old cases, thousands of applicants from the period are still waiting to be assigned case officers.
Last August, Sara Sjudin, a section head in the Migration Agency's citizenship division, told The Local that the agency hoped to clear most of its backlog of four-year-old citizenship cases by the end of 2025. To do this, cases would be handled strictly in order of application date from that October.
Six months after the new chronological system came into force, thousands of four-year-old cases are still waiting for a decision, while the average processing time for decided cases of citizenship by naturalisation rose to 1,021 days in the first two months of the year.
"We have been able to conclude quite a few of the really old cases, but we haven't concluded all of them," Åsa Holmes, the Migration Agency's head of unit for citizenship in Gothenburg, told The Local, putting the slower-than-expected progress down to the additional security checks which the government asked the agency to carry out from April 2025.
She argued that the apparent rise in average waiting times to 1,021 days was misleading as it reflected the agency's decision to focus on older cases rather than a real increase in the waiting time faced by applicants.
"It looks strange because this is supposed to give people a sense of how long it will take for their application to be handled," she said. "But this has to do with the fact that we're handling older cases now, and some of the older cases have been there for a very, very long time. So it's not really a true figure."
Swedish vocabulary: four years – fyra år
Sweden could start deporting foreigners over 'poor conduct' this summer
The Swedish government is moving forward with a bill to reject or revoke residency permits of foreigners who are not living up to its standards for good behaviour.
The new bill proposes reintroducing the good behaviour requirement which existed in Swedish migration law prior to 2005, referred to in Swedish as the vandelskrav.
This means that foreigners considered to have so-called bristande vandel, roughly a flawed way of life or poor conduct, will no longer qualify for a residency permit.
"If you for example neglect to pay your debts, if you don't follow decisions by Swedish authorities, if you cheat on benefits or if you cheat in order to get a Swedish residence permit – well, then you don't have the right to be here," Migration Minister Johan Forssell told a press conference, attended by The Local.
The new rules will apply to everyone whose residence permit is based on Swedish immigration law, such as work permits and family members.
They will not apply to foreigners whose right to stay in Sweden is based on EU law and conventions, such as refugees, EU citizens and third country citizens in Sweden on an EU permit.
If they win the backing of parliament, the new rules are set to come into force on July 13th.
Swedish vocabulary: a government – en regering
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