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POLITICS

Swedish vocabulary: How to talk about the political crisis like a Swede

Keeping up with the twists and turns over the recent events in Swedish politics is a challenge, let alone navigating it in a foreign language. We've collected the key Swedish words and phrases you need to hold your own when the conversation turns to politics.

Published: 24 June 2021 17:28 CEST
Updated: 27 June 2021 09:08 CEST
Swedish vocabulary: How to talk about the political crisis like a Swede
'Vad är det som händer?' (What's going on) is a starting point. Photo: Lars Schröder/TT

What’s happening?

There’s a lot going on in Swedish politik (politics, but also ‘policy’) at the moment.

The regering (government) just lost a misstroendeförklaring (no-confidence vote) which saw a majority of the riksdag (parliament) vote to topple them. That’s created a regeringskris (government crisis).

There are two possibilities for what happens next: we could get a talmansrunda, which has no direct English translation but refers to talks between the talman (speaker of parliament) and partiledare (party leaders), or we could be heading for an extraval (snap election). The word for ‘election’ is val, which also means ‘choice’ and ‘whale’, just to make things extra confusing for Swedish learners.

The current crisis erupted over marknadshyror (market rents), a centre-right policy that the centre-left government reluctantly agreed to look into, but which was a step too far for the Left Party, on whose support the government relies. 

What next?

It depends if the statsminister (Prime Minister) chooses to go for an extraval or talmansrunda.

If it’s an extraval, it should take place in September and Swedish citizens over the age of 18 have rösträtt (right to vote) and will be able to rösta (vote). The most recent partisympatiundersökningar (party sympathy surveys) show that a right-wing government would be on track for a knapp majoritet (narrow majority) but it’s very, very close.

If it’s a talmansrunda, the talman will speak to the different partiledare and appoint one of them, who he thinks has a chance at forming a viable government, to sondera (this roughly means ‘to feel/sound out’ and in politics, it refers to chatting to the other leaders to see if they can gather enough support for a government).

Forming a viable government will require some parties to reach a kompromiss (compromise), since the Centre Party, for example, has ruled out samarbete (cooperation) with the Left but also with the far-right.

The parties

First there are the Socialdemokraterna (Social Democrats) and Miljöpartiet (Green Party), who have been running Sweden as a koalitionsregering (coalition government). 

They were able to come to power thanks to reaching an agreement with two former members of their opposition, the Centerpartiet (Centre Party) and Liberalerna (Liberals). The agreement where they agreed support in exchange for policy influence is called Januariavtalet (the January Deal), and that makes the Centre and Liberals stödpartier (support parties).

Also usually backing the government is Vänsterpartiet (the Left Party), although it has no formal agreement in place like the Centre and Liberals, so is technically part of the opposition — that’s why it pushed for a vote of no-confidence over one of the points in the Januariavtalet.

On the right side of the political spectrum, Moderaterna (the Moderates) and Kristdemokraterna (Christian Democrats) were formerly part of a four-party coalition with the Centre and Liberals called Alliansen (the Alliance). These parties are often referred to as de borgerliga (the bourgeois – which doesn’t automatically have the same strong connotations in Swedish as in English).

Further to the right are Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden Democrats), a party with roots in the far-right which runs on an anti-immigration platform.

Useful phrases

Vad finns det för alternativ nu? – What alternatives are there now?

Blir det ett extraval? – Will there be a snap election?

Till vems fördel blir ett extraval? – Who would benefit from a snap election?

Kommer Stefan Löfven kunna skapa en regering? – Will Stefan Löfven be able to form a government?

Varför är marknadshyror en så viktig fråga? – Why are market rents such an important issue?

Hur mycket inflytande kommer Vänsterpartiet/Centerpartiet få? – How much influence will the Left Party/Centre Party have?

Vad tror du kommer hända nu? – What do you think will happen next?

And if you find yourself in a political debate and not sure what to say next, you can never go wrong with a drawn out, non-committal njaaa… (well…).

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For members

CRIME

EXPLAINED: What we know about the attack on a Swedish anti-fascist meeting

Several masked men, described by anti-racism magazine Expo as "a group of Nazis" carried out the attack at an event organised by the Left Party and Green Party. Here's what we know so far.

Published: 25 April 2024 09:35 CEST
EXPLAINED: What we know about the attack on a Swedish anti-fascist meeting

What happened?

Several masked men burst into a Stockholm theatre on Wednesday night and set off smoke bombs during an anti-fascism event, according to police and participants.

Around 50 people were taking part in the event at the Moment theatre in Gubbängen, a southern suburb of the Swedish capital, organised by the Left Party and the Green Party.

“Three people were taken by ambulance to hospital,” the police said on its website, shortly after the attack.

According to Swedish media, one person was physically assaulted and two had paint sprayed in their faces.

“The Nazis attacked visitors using physical violence, with pepper spray, and vandalised the venue before throwing in some kind of smoke grenade which filled the foyer with smoke,” Expo wrote on its website. 

The magazine’s head of education Klara Ljungberg was at the event in order to hold a lecture at the invitation of the two political parties.

What was the meeting about?

According to the Left Party’s press officer, the event was “a meeting about growing fascism”. 

Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar described the event to public broadcaster SVT as an “open event, for equality among individuals”.

As well as Ljungberg from Expo, panelists at the event included anti-fascist activist Mathias Wåg, who also writes for Swedish centre-left tabloid Aftonbladet.

“They were determined and went straight for me,” Wåg told Expo just after the attack. “I received a few blows but nothing that caused serious damage.”

“I was invited to be on a panel in order to discuss anti-fascism with representatives from the Left Party and the Green Party,” he told the magazine. “I didn’t know this was going to happen, but there’s obviously a risk when Expo and I are in the same place.”

What has the reaction been like?

All of Sweden’s parties across the political spectrum have denounced the attack, with Dadgostar describing it as a “threat to our democracy” when TT newswire interviewed her at the theatre a few hours after the attack occurred.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, from the conservative Moderates, called the attack “abhorrent”.

The Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals are currently in government with the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats, while the Social Democrats, Left Party, Centre Party and Green Party are in opposition.

“It is appalling news that a meeting hosted by the Left Party has been stormed,” Kristersson told TT. “I have reached out to Nooshi Dadgostar and expressed my deepest support. This type of abhorrent action has no place in our free and open society.”

“Right-wing extremists want to scare us into silence,” Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson wrote on X. “They will never be allowed to succeed.”

“The attack by right-wing extremists at a political meeting is a direct attack on our democracy and freedom of speech,” Green Party co-leader Daniel Helldén wrote on X. “My thoughts are with those who were affected this evening.”

Sweden Democrat party leader Jimmie Åkesson wrote in an email to TT that “political violence is terrible, in all its forms, and does not belong in Sweden.”

“All democratic forces must stand in complete solidarity against all kinds of politically motivated violence,” he continued.

His party has previously admitted to being founded by people from “fascist movement” New Swedish Movement, skinheads, and people with “various types of neo-Nazi contact”.

“It is an attack not only on the Left Party, Green Party and the Expo Foundation, but also on our entire democratic society,” Centre Party leader Muharrem Demirok, who referred to the attackers as “Nazis”, wrote on social media. “Those affected have all my support.”

Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch and Liberal leader Johan Pehrson both referred to the attackers as “anti-democratic forces”.

“It is never acceptable for a political meeting to be stormed by anti-democratic forces,” Busch wrote. “There is no place for this in our society.”

“Anti-democratic forces like this represent a serious threat to our democracy and must be met with society’s hardest iron fist,” Pehrson said.

What about the attackers? Has anyone been arrested?

Not yet. The police had not made any arrests at the time of writing on Thursday morning.

According to TT, police did not want to comment on who could be behind the attack.

It is currently being investigated as a violation of the Flammable and Explosive Goods Act, assault, causing danger to others and disturbing public order.

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