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Today in Sweden: A round-up of the latest news on Tuesday

Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short round-up of the news in less than five minutes.

Published: 9 March 2021 09:11 CET
a woman holding a Covid-19 vaccine vial
The next phase of Covid-19 vaccinations is set to get under way in Stockholm. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

Vaccinations of over-80s get under way in Stockholm

The Stockholm region is now ready to start Phase Two of its Covid-19 vaccination programme – which includes the general public over the age of 65 – as the last of Sweden’s 21 regions. The priority list for this group will be based on age, so around 100,000 Stockholmers over the age of 80 will be called for the jab in the next fortnight.

Vaccinations of people born between 1942 and 1951 are currently scheduled to get under way in late March, early April.

Swedish vocabulary: age – ålder

Sweden’s parliament most gender equal in the EU

Last year, 49.6 percent of Sweden’s members of parliament were women. That’s the highest in the EU and far more than the EU average of 33 percent, writes news site Europaportalen. Hungary was at the bottom of the list, with 13 percent female MPs.

In the Swedish government, 52.2 of ministers are women, compared to the EU average of 32.7 percent. However, Sweden falls behind most countries when it comes to the head of government: Sweden and eight other member states have not had a single woman head of government since World War Two.

Swedish vocabulary: head of government – regeringschef

Sweden jails Isis mother who took two-year-old son to Syria

A Swedish woman has been locked up for three years for taking her young son with her when she travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State (Isis or IS).

The 31-year-old woman, who arrived in Syria via Turkey in mid 2014, was convicted of “arbitrary conduct with a child” for putting her then two-year-old son’s life at risk, the court said in a ruling obtained by AFP.

The woman plans to appeal the verdict, her lawyer told Swedish news agency TT.

Swedish vocabulary: verdict – dom

Swedish companies ‘soon least gender equal in the Nordic countries’

The share of women on the management of listed Swedish companies has stood still for five years, meaning Sweden risks soon having the least gender-equal business world of any Nordic country, a new report released for International Women’s Day has found.

According to the 10th annual report of AllBright, a group which campaigns for better representation of women on company boards and management teams, Sweden is set to be overtaken by Denmark to become the Nordic country with the lowest share of women in the management teams of the top companies by 2022, losing a leadership position it had as recently as 2015.

“Sweden is living on its past glories. Over the past five years, the share of women in the management teams of the biggest Swedish companies has stayed still at 25 percent, which was a high share five years ago. But it no longer looks that flattering compared to the neighbours,” Amanda Lundeteg, the campaign group’s chief executive, told the TT newswire. Read the full article (in English) here.

Swedish vocabulary: woman – kvinna

What does the Liberals’ switching of sides mean for Sweden’s next election?

The leaders of Sweden’s minority Liberal Party last week voted to stop propping up the country’s red-green coalition government and campaign alongside the centre-right Moderate party in the run-up to next year’s September general election. But they’re not pulling their support just yet. The Local explains what’s going on in this article.

Swedish vocabulary: party – parti

Öresund Bridge set to get new permanent speed cameras

The Danish government plans to place permanent speed checks from next year on the country’s two largest bridges, the Öresund Bridge that links the country to Sweden, and the Great Belt Bridge.

Permanent speed cameras will be set up from next year on the Great Belt Bridge, the 18-kilometre long fixed link connecting Zealand with Funen which was completed in 1998.

The no-less impressive Öresund Bridge, which crosses from the Swedish coast to the artificial Danish island of Peberholm, which is connected to Copenhagen via tunnel, will get the same treatment, the Ministry of Transport said in a statement.

Swedish vocabulary: speed check – fartkontroll

US criminologist lauds Malmö for anti-gang success

The US criminologist behind the anti-gang strategy designed to reduce the number of shootings and explosions in Malmö has credited the city and its police for the “utterly pragmatic, very professional, very focused” way they have put his ideas into practice.

In an online seminar with Malmö mayor Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, David Kennedy, a professor at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said implementing his Group Violence Intervention (GVI) strategy had gone extremely smoothly in the city.

Malmö’s Sluta Skjut (Stop Shooting) pilot scheme was extended to a three-year programme this January, after its launch in 2018 coincided with a reduction in the number of shootings and explosions in the city.

“We think it’s a good medicine for Malmö for breaking the negative trend that we had,” Malmö police chief Stefan Sintéus said, pointing to the fall from 65 shootings in 2017 to 20 in 2020, and in explosions from 62 in 2017 to 17 in 2020.

Read the full article (in English) here.

Swedish vocabulary: shooting – skjutning

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TODAY IN SWEDEN

Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Right bloc strikes government deal, Sweden Democrat to lead Sweden in OSCE, Russia's Nord Stream 'bewilderment', and inflation nears 10 percent: find out what's going on in Sweden with The Local's roundup.

Published: 14 October 2022 08:06 CEST
Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Moderate leader strikes government coalition deal

Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson has completed his deal with the Sweden Democrat, Christian Democrat and Liberal parties, and will announce it at 10am on Friday, state broadcaster SVT has reported.

According to a story published at close to 11pm on Thursday night, the four parties will hold a press conference at 10am where they will lay out the details on the new government’s plans to reform Sweden over the next four years.

The agreement contains both policy details and details of which parties will be part of the coalition and how they will work together.

After the press conference, at 11am, Kristersson will visit the parliament’s Speaker Andreas Norlén to inform him that the deal is complete, after which the Speaker will call a parliamentary vote on Kristersson as prime minister, probably for Monday.

Swedish vocab: en överenskommelse – an agreement 

Far-right politician appointed to lead Sweden in OSCE

One of the leading politicians in the far-right Sweden Democrats has been appointed to lead Sweden in the OSCE, a body that monitors elections and seeks to bolster security in Europe.

Björn Söder, one of the so-called ‘gang of four’ who transformed the Sweden Democrats, has been appointed chair of the Swedish delegation of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The OSCE was founded in Helsinki in 1975 as a forum for discussion between the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc and gained its current name in 1995.

Söder has faced criticism for saying in 2018 that in his opinion members of Sweden’s Sami and Jewish minorities were not Swedish. “They are recognised as minorities because they are not Swedish,” he argued, stressing that ethnicity and citizenship were two different concepts.

Many had expected the Sweden Democrats to put Söder forward as deputy speaker of the parliament, a position he held between 2014 and 2018, but the party instead nominated his less controversial colleague Julia Kronlid.

Swedish vocab: valobservatör – election monitor

Russia aggrieved at Germany, Denmark and Sweden over Nord Stream probe

Russia’s foreign ministry said Thursday it had summoned envoys of Germany, Denmark and Sweden to express “bewilderment” over Moscow’s exclusion from an investigation into leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines.

Multiple leaks were discovered on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines connecting Russia to Germany, further raising political tensions already sky high since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in February. All four leaks were located near Danish island Bornholm.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the leaks were an act of “international terrorism” that would benefit the United States, Poland and Ukraine.

Both Moscow and Washington have denied responsibility for the leaks, which were discovered in late September. Germany, Sweden and Denmark have formed a joint investigation unit to probe the apparent sabotage.

“The heads of the diplomatic missions of Germany, Denmark and Sweden in Moscow have been summoned to the Russian foreign ministry in recent days,” the Russian ministry said in a statement.

Swedish vocab: att kalla upp diplomater – so summon diplomats

More rate hikes on cards as Swedish inflation nears 10 percent

Inflation in Sweden hit a higher than expected 9.7 percent in September, making it likely that the country’s central bank will have to hike interest rates even more rapidly.

In a press release issued on Thursday morning, Statistics Sweden blamed “higher electricity prices and higher prices for groceries and alcohol-free drinks” for driving price increases over the month.

The rise was higher than market expectations of about 9.3 percent, judging by a survey carried out by Bloomberg, a financial news service.

The goods that saw the highest price increases were bread and other products made from grain, and coffee, the agency wrote. 

“This is high, well above the Riksbank’s target. That indicates we will see continued big [rate] hikes,” Annika Winsth, chief economist at Nordea, told the TT newswire. 

She said that it was likely now that the 50 point rate rise planned for November would be increased to 75 points. 

“Both households and companies need to be prepared for rates continuing to rise,” she said. 

Swedish vocab: att rusa – to soar (literally “rush”) 

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