Ballots cast in Sami Parliament elections

On Sunday, voting took place in Sweden for the Sami Parliament elections, an elected body (and Swedish state agency) formed in 1993 that represents the indigenous Sami people.

One of the major issues relates to land rights of Sami villages; the current ruling party wants to preserve certain rights for reindeer herders only, while the the Hunting and Fishing Sami party (Jakt- och fiskesamerna) believes all Sami should have an equal right to use the land.

Voting closed at 8pm in the 24 polling stations, and a result is expected next week. Almost 10,000 people have the right to vote in the Sami elections, and this year saw a rise in turnout from 1,964 to 2,135.

Swedish vocabulary: the Sami parliament – Sametinget

Will Sweden’s vaccine pass be ready the June 1st target?

It’s unclear, a spokesperson for Sweden’s digitalisation agency has told the Svenska Dagbladet.

The ‘Gröna Beviset’ or ‘Green Digital Certificate’ vaccine pass was intended to be in place before the start of the summer season, to facilitate travel, but new regulations have complicated the work.

The difficulty, according to the SvD report, is that the government wants the pass to show not only the holder’s Covid-19 vaccination record, but also whether they have recently tested negative for the virus or already had Covid-19. While a national vaccination register already exists, there is no similar system for test results.

Swedish vocabulary: vaccine pass – vaccinpass

Sweden’s Covid-19 restrictions to be removed step by step, starting June 1st

Swedish authorities currently plan to take the first steps in relaxing Covid-19 restrictions from June 1st, but it will still be a long time before normal life resumes, due to high infection rates.

In case you missed it, here’s The Local’s explainer of the current plans.

Three detained over night of arson in Eskilstuna

On Saturday night there were more than ten fires reported in Eskilstuna, in most cases car fires.

Three young men, all previously known to police, were detained on suspicion of attempted aggravated vandalism, Aftonbladet reported, after the police had to call in resources from neighbouring towns to help respond to the calls. Local media reported that people poured petrol around police cars but that no-one was hurt in connection with the fires.