Today in Sweden: Trade union heavyweights urge Left Party to drop cabinet demand

Swedish trade union heavyweights urge Left Party to drop cabinet demand

Blue-collar trade unions affiliated with the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) are putting pressure on the Left Party to drop its demand for ministerial posts.

"Negotiate hard on policy instead," writes LO chair Johan Lindholm alongside the leaders of LO's 13 member unions in an opinion piece for Aftonbladet.

The union leaders argue that a "route back to Ulf Kristersson would also mean a route back to the right-wing politics that voters have rejected".

"The Left Party has every right to demand political influence in exchange for its parliamentary seats. Furthermore, the party pursues policies that in many respects align closely with our union interests. But political influence and ministerial posts are not the same thing," the LO unions write.

"Our appeal is therefore straightforward: drop the unconditional demand for cabinet seats."

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Among the priorities they highlight as crucial for their members are higher pensions, abolishing the qualifying sickness deduction (karensavdrag) and "putting an end to welfare cuts".

Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson announced on Sunday that she wants to form a government with the Green Party and Centre Party, urging the Left Party to reconsider its demand to join the cabinet.

Left Party leaders, however, insist the party holds a binding congress resolution stating that it must enter government if its parliamentary votes are required. (TT/The Local)

Stockholm set to get its first snow of the season this week

Stockholm is set to get its first snowfall on Thursday, with large swathes of Sweden also expecting snow this week.

"It's true that snow is on the cards. It's something people should factor in on Thursday and into early Friday," SMHI meteorologist Torbjörn Simann told local Stockhom paper Mitti.

He said it was difficult to give exact figures on how much snow will fall, but added that "it's not just a matter of a few centimetres – it could be quite substantial".

Snow is expected to fall further south as well, according to SMHI, Sweden's national weather agency.

"We're not talking about large amounts that will settle. But it's still a clear sign that winter is on its way," SMHI meteorologist Max Schildt told the TT news agency.

Tuesday and Wednesday look set to bring clouds and rain to the south, with colder air settling in the north. A low-pressure system is then predicted to sweep in from the west on Thursday and Friday, bringing significant rain, snow and blustery winds to much of the country.

"Above all across southern Norrland and Dalarna, it looks like there will be some snow over the course of Friday, as well as windy conditions. And that could, of course, cause a fair few disruptions on the roads," Schildt said.

SMHI has not yet issued any weather warnings, though that may change.

Cold weather is in store for the entire country on Saturday, with sunshine in many areas, but a fresh low-pressure system is expected to push into northern Sweden later over the weekend.

"Already by the start of next week, we are seeing indications of milder air sweeping up over the country," Schildt added. (The Local)

Swedish vocabulary: snow – snö

Sweden battles to protect snus tax in Brussels

Sweden and Finland clashed at an EU meeting over future tax rates for white snus, the tobacco-free nicotine pouches increasingly popular in Sweden.

The European Commission's original proposal from last year would set a minimum tax level on nicotine pouches – commonly known as white snus – at around 1,500 kronor per kilo.

Sweden flatly rejected this, insisting that Swedish rules remain untouched, with a domestic tax rate of roughly 200 kronor per kilo.

Such a compromise was put forward, prompting Sweden to drop its objections – albeit not without pointing out that snus means as much to Swedes as wine to the French, Italians and Spaniards.

"I cannot stress enough how important this is to the Swedish people – and therefore also to the Swedish parliament," TT quoted state secretary Johanna Lybeck Lilja, who represented Sweden at Monday's meeting of finance ministers in Brussels (a state secretary is a top political aide in Sweden, a rank just below that of cabinet minister).

Finland refused to back the compromise and launched a scathing attack on Sweden behind closed doors.

"The minimum rate (...) has been completely watered down. Nicotine pouches bought cheaply in our neighbouring country are increasingly smuggled through illegal distribution networks that specifically target young people," said Finnish Finance Minister Riikka Purra of the Finns Party.

When Estonia and Malta also said no, Ireland, which currently holds the EU presidency, was forced to scramble for yet another compromise on Monday evening.

Eventually, a deal emerged that Sweden, Finland and Estonia all agreed to accept, effectively postponing a decision on the minimum tax rate for the time being.

Malta remained dissatisfied, however, objecting both to the proposed minimum tax rate and to other elements of the draft, such as how tax rates would be indexed automatically.

"Nevertheless, we are keeping the door open to continued negotiations in the coming days," Maltese Finance Minister Clyde Caruana told the meeting.

Because the issue concerns taxation, EU rules dictate that unanimous agreement is required to pass a deal. (TT/The Local)

Swedish vocabulary: unanimous agreement – total enighet

350,000 SAS passengers hit by major data breach

Hundreds of thousands of SAS passengers may have had their booking details exposed in a massive data breach, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reports.

SAS has reported the incident to the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY). It states that the leak primarily involves older bookings and completed journeys. The compromised information reportedly includes booking references, dates, passenger headcounts and other flight-related details.

In total, 350,164 people have been impacted by the incident, according to SAS. The airline has not notified the affected passengers individually, but noted that this decision could change if new information comes to light.

The leak occurred within the global travel reservation system Amadeus, an IT platform used by airlines worldwide.

"SAS is aware of the security incident reported by Amadeus and has been informed that certain booking information linked to SAS has been affected," SAS said in a written statement to SVT.

The airline added that "the necessary reports to the relevant supervisory authorities" have been submitted.

Finnair has also been caught up in the fallout. In a press release, the carrier stated that roughly 116,000 of its flight reservations may have been compromised, adding that the breach encompasses several international airlines beyond Finnair.

On Friday, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported that unauthorised parties may have had access to records within the Amadeus booking system for as long as three years, with Norwegian Air passengers among those affected. (TT/The Local)

Swedish vocabulary: a leak – en läcka