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TODAY IN SWEDEN

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

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

Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Friday
Annie Lööf, now Sweden's joint longest serving party leader. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT

Classified information may have been lost during Migration Agency’s downsizing

A review carried out by the Swedish National Audit Office shows that during the downsizing of the Migration Agency between 2017 and 2020, phones and computers that may have contained classified information disappeared. This was one of the fastest and largest reductions in Swedish public administration in years, and the review by the National Audit Office aims to examine what the impact of the reduction was.

In its statement, the auditors write that it is particularly serious that the Swedish Migration Agency lacked sufficient routines and controls for IT equipment that may contain classified information.

“Lack of documentation means that it is not possible to know where several thousand computers and telephones went. This means risks of irregularities and risks that sensitive information goes astray,” Tommi Teljosuo, project manager for the review, said in a press release.

The review also shows that the reduction led to extensive efficiency problems which, among other things, led to asylum seekers and people applying for residence permits being forced to wait for unnecessarily long times.

Swedish vocabulary: downsizing – neddragning

Police officer injured at anti-vaccine demonstration

A group of five people, men and women in their 50s and 70s, demonstrated against the Covid-19 vaccine near a vaccination clinic in Västerås on Thursday. A police officer received a hand injury requiring medical attention while dealing with the incident, which led to one woman in her 70s taken into custody by the police.

“This woman is suspected of violent resistance now, and a report has been made of unlawful intrusion and harassment,” said a police press spokesperson.

Sweden’s Nobel banquet cancelled over Covid

The Nobel Prize banquet has been cancelled for the second consecutive year, making it the fifth year in peacetime that it has not been held since it was first established in 1901. The event is usually attended by more than 1,000 guests and watched by hundreds of thousands of TV viewers.

Instead, prize winners will receive their medals in their home countries. Nobel Week will consist of a mixture of digital and physical events, including lectures and light installations around Stockholm.

Swedish vocabulary: prize winner – pristagare

Annie Lööf re-elected as Centre Party leader

The Centre Party assembly has re-elected Annie Lööf to lead the party for the next two years.

Along with the Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson, she is Sweden’s longest serving party leader, having been elected for the first time in 2011. She has been a member of the Swedish parliament since 2006.

Swedish vocabulary: party leader – partiledare

Sweden exempts vaccinated travellers from seven countries from non-EU entry ban

Sweden on Thursday updated its non-EU entry ban to allow fully vaccinated people to enter Sweden from seven new countries.

The rule change means that people who can present a Covid-19 vaccination certificate issued in Albania, Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Israel, Morocco, Monaco or Panama will be exempt from both the ban on entry from most non-EU/EEA countries, and from the requirement to show a negative Covid-19 test on arrival in Sweden. This change will come into effect starting on September 27th.

Swedish vocabulary: to exempt – undanta

More people in Sweden could soon be eligible for Covid vaccine booster

At the weekly Covid-19 briefing from Swedish authorities on Thursday, the Public Health Agency said it was looking into adding more groups to the eligibility list for a vaccine booster shot. Third doses have already started being rolled out, currently to people with severely weakened immune systems, a group of around 40,000.

Swedish vocabulary: immune system – immunsystem

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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.

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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