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TODAY IN SWEDEN

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

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 Wednesday
Your power bill may get more expensive in Sweden this winter. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT

Public faith in Sweden’s pandemic measures falls

Fewer people than previously think that Sweden’s pandemic measures were adequate or “lagom” – 35 percent according to a new survey which was carried out by the SOM Institute at Gothenburg University between March and June this year.

That’s down from a peak of 63 percent in September-December 2020 (and down from 58 percent in April-June 2020). A total of 41 percent told the latest survey the measures were “somewhat insufficient” and 19 percent said they were “highly insufficient”.

The Public Health Agency – which led Sweden’s coronavirus strategy – enjoyed the confidence of 81 percent of respondents in spring 2020, but that has now dropped to 65 percent (and although the majority of people still trust the agency, the percentage who has “fairly or very low confidence” in it has increased from 6 to 15 percent).

You can read the full survey (in Swedish) on the SOM Institute’s website.

Swedish vocabulary: lagom – famously “untranslatable”, but refers to something that is adequate, sufficient, in moderation, fit for purpose etc.

How many MPs have received the Covid vaccine?

Anders W Jonsson, the leader of the Centre Party’s parliamentary group, has called on colleagues to investigate how many of their members of parliament have been vaccinated against Covid-19, arguing that sessions need to be adapted if a large number are not.

The Swedish parliament cannot require its members to get vaccinated, but speaker of parliament Andreas Norlén told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper that he “assumes” that everyone who can does. Parliament was slimmed down to 55 members during the peak of the pandemic, but returned to its standard 349 members in autumn this year.

Dagens Nyheter writes that the ones who are known not to have been vaccinated are Sweden Democrats Mattias Bäckström Johansson (who said he had been tested for antibodies and may get vaccinated in the future), Roger Richthoff (who was slammed by his own party for referring to it as “poison”), Mattias Karlsson (who said he had not got around to it; he then fell ill and had to receive hospital care for Covid-19), and Anne Oskarsson (who said she had not been vaccinated due to an underlying lung disease).

The newspaper also writes that it has approached other parties.

Swedish vocabulary: undersöka – investigate

Ecuador postpones trial of Swedish man

The trial of Swedish internet activist Ola Bini, which had been set to get under way in Ecuador on Thursday, has been cancelled and postponed, reports the TT newswire.

Bini, who has been linked to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, was arrested in the capital, Quito, in 2019, just hours after Ecuador rescinded Assange’s asylum. He is accused of hacking into state-owned telecom company CNT, which he denies.

Swedish vocabulary: anklagad för – accused of

Your power bill may get more expensive this winter

Swedish Energy Minister Anders Ygeman has warned of higher electricity prices this winter, but said that there should be no shortage of electricity. He said that one of Sweden’s challenges is that most of the production comes from northern Sweden, but most of the power is consumed in southern Sweden – and it’s a big country.

The TT news agency reports that the factors behind the increased costs include lower water levels at hydropower stations, a less windy month of September than normal, less power produced at nuclear power stations, and rising prices in Europe overall.

Swedish vocabulary: kärnkraft – nuclear power

Member comments

  1. Every. Single. Swedish person I have encountered that I have asked about “lagom” has given me the same answer. “Not too much, not too little.” Seems like if you ask enough of them (or even just a few), it’s pretty easy to get a translation.

    1. I think they should rephrase it as “Have no direct translation to another language”. Because a meaning is obviously there.

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