Sweden’s right-wing government, which took office after the 2022 election by striking a deal with the far-right Sweden Democrats, has made migration a key part of its reforms, including raising the salary threshold for work permit holders and threatening to revoke permanent residencies.

And even if the centre-left Social Democrats win Sweden’s next election in 2026, more generous migration rules are not on the cards, opposition leader Magdalena Andersson told Expressen.

“Strict migration will remain in place if there’s a change of power. It is obvious, and it’s going to have to remain firmly in place for a very long time to come. The Swedish people can feel safe in the knowledge that Social Democrats will stand up for a strict migration policy,” she said.

The Social Democrats together with the Green Party led Sweden during the refugee crisis of 2015, when an unprecedented number of people sought asylum in the country, leading to former Prime Minister Stefan Löfven’s government’s swing towards tough border controls and migration policies.

The U-turn came after Löfven at the start of the crisis gave a high-profile speech in which he said that “my Europe doesn’t build walls”, and the stricter rules were at first advertised as temporary.

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Andersson told Expressen that her party had been briefly caught up in the moment when public opinion was initially in favour of more open migration policies, but that the return to a tougher stance was traditional Social Democrat politics and should have been brought in sooner.

“Free immigration is not left wing. Those who have pushed the most for free immigration in Sweden are the right wing. Ulf Kristersson and Gunnar Strömmer are the ones who have done that,” she said, naming the sitting Moderate prime minister and justice minister.

“There’s no doubt where we as Social Democrats stand on this issue. Look at what I’ve been pushing for in the eight years I was minister. It’s no secret that I was one of the driving forces behind the restructuring we carried out in 2015,” said Andersson, finance minister in Löfven’s government.

All of the other three opposition parties – the Greens, Centre and Left – are in favour of more open migration policies. Asked what now separates the Social Democrats from the Sweden Democrats on immigration, Andersson insisted there was still a clear dividing line between the two.

“The Social Democrats’ stance is clear. Strict migration: Yes. Racism: No. That’s a very important distinction compared to the Sweden Democrats,” she said.

“Not that we shouldn’t have strict migration, but in the way we view people who are in Sweden. We want to create a spirit of community for everyone in our country. We want integration policies so that people can become part of our society. That’s the difference.”