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

Sweden recalls thousands of driving licences in 2021

More than 22,000 people had their driving licence recalled by Swedish authorities in the first six months of the year, up 10.7 percent on the same period last year. Last year, 41,000 drivers had their licence recalled over the whole year, which was a record figure. That means that if the current trend continues, Sweden will break that record this year.

According to the Transport Agency, which released the statistics on Sunday, around 18.9 percent of drivers who lost their licence were aged 18-24. They were significantly overrepresented, making up 7.3 percent of licence holders in Sweden.

Swedish vocabulary: driving licence – körkort

Swedish court faces wave of complaints of long waits for citizenship

The Administrative Court in Malmö expects to receive up to 40,000 appeals of “requests to conclude a case”, most of which will be related to citizenship applications, reports Swedish public radio broadcaster SR’s news programme Ekot today. It has already received around 50,000 similar appeals in the past two years.

People who have waited more than six months for a decision on their application for Swedish citizenship, or a residence permit, can apply to the Migration Agency to request a quick decision on their case, a new law which came into force in 2018.

But the Migration Agency can deny the request if they conclude it’s not possible to make a fast decision, in which case it can be appealed to the Administrative Court.

The estimated waiting time for citizenship is currently 40 months.

Swedish vocabulary: administrative court – förvaltningsrätt

How to get a faster decision on your Swedish citizenship or permit application https://t.co/4z4OF0GabH pic.twitter.com/aBGVE277Sj

— The Local Jobs (@TheLocalJobs) February 25, 2020

No suspects after shooting at Gothenburg hairdresser’s

No arrests had been made by Sunday morning after a brutal killing at a hairdressing or barber salon in Gothenburg on Friday, reports the TT newswire. CCTV footage shows two masked men entering via the back door, walking up to the 25-year-old victim in his chair, and shooting him in front of other people in the room. They then flee the scene.

The shooting took place in the Högsbo area of Sweden’s second largest city. Police believe the victim was linked to the criminal gang milieu in Gothenburg.

Swedish vocabulary: hairdresser – frisör

All adults can now book the Covid-19 vaccine in (almost) all of Sweden

All Swedish regions have now opened Covid-19 vaccinations to everyone aged 18 and older, apart from Uppsala, which is so far only open to people aged over 23.

However, the region told TT that it expects to open to all adults at some point this week. Uppsala officials said that the region has been opening its vaccine booking slots frequently but to very limited age groups at a time, so as not to overload the booking system.

Swedish vocabulary: adult – vuxen (or in a more administrative sense, myndig, “of age”)