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2024 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

Sweden Democrat MP caught on tape belting out racist chants at EU election vigil

Sweden Democrat parliamentarian David Lång was caught on tape singing racist chants on election night.

Sweden Democrat MP caught on tape belting out racist chants at EU election vigil
David Lång, left, on stage with Sweden Democrat party leader Jimmie Åkesson at an event in 2013. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT

While interviewing senior Sweden Democrat Richard Jomshof at the party’s EU election vigil, a reporter from the Expressen tabloid noted that the controversial techno hit L’amour toujours was playing in the venue. 

The hit, by Italian DJ Gigi d’Agostino, has been co-opted by far-right groups in Germany in recent years, who have replaced the original lyrics with the Nazi slogan “Ausländer raus, Deutschland den Deutschen” (“foreigners out, Germany for Germans”). As a result it has been banned at several major events in Germany.

The reporter asks Jomshof if he knows of the song, which he first denies and then adds “it’s the German one, isn’t it? It’s not my kind of music”.

He is then asked whether it is inappropriate to play at an election vigil to which he begins to respond “no, it depends…”

Jomshof doesn’t get any further before he is interrupted by fellow MP David Lång, who is heard on the recording loudly singing “Ausländer raus” as he walks up to the pair and then suddenly catches himself, saying to the reporter, “oh shit, are you recording this?”

According to the Expressen reporter, he then tried to grab their recording equipment.

Lång walked off after Jomshof asked him to leave, and then left the party 20 minutes later, refusing to answer questions about the incident.

Sweden Democrat group leader Linda Lindberg told Expressen in a written statement: “My interpretation is that there were no ulterior motives behind David’s actions, but it’s blatantly obvious that he was heavily over-refreshed and generally buffoonish. As group leader I will speak to him tomorrow about this and stress that we expect better behaviour in the future.”

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CLIMATE CRISIS

Why did Sweden’s emissions drop in 2023 – and what’s in store for the future?

Sweden's greenhouse gas emissions fell by two percent last year, but the good news may be short-lived.

Why did Sweden's emissions drop in 2023 – and what's in store for the future?

In 2023, the Scandinavian country’s emissions amounted to 44.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, a drop of about one tonne from 2022, according to preliminary statistics, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement.

The two percent decrease was in line with a 1.6 percent drop announced by Statistics Sweden in late May.

The EPA said the 2023 figure represented a decrease of 38 percent from 1990.

The EPA attributed the year-on-year drop primarily to lower emissions from industry – in particular the cement, iron and steel industries, due to lower production as a result of Sweden’s economic recession – and the electric and district heating sector, due to lower electricity prices.

“Emissions have continued to decrease, not least in industry and electric and district heating, which form part of the EU’s emissions trading system,” Anna-Karin Nyström, the head of the EPA’s climate target division said.

“The pace has slowed compared to the year before, when above all domestic transport and (fuel-based) work machinery contributed to a sharp reduction.”

But in March, an independent panel of experts tasked with reviewing climate policy said the government’s plans would lead to short-term emissions increases in 2024 and knock it off-course from its 2030 reduction target.

The Swedish Climate Policy Council, said in the March report that “policy adopted in 2023 will increase emissions and does not lead towards the fulfilment of Sweden’s climate goals and EU commitments by 2030”.

The council said several measures, such as a reduced fuel tax, put climate ambitions at risk.

But it also lamented a lack of concrete measures in the government’s “climate policy action plan”, a roadmap that the government is required by law to present every four years.

Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment Romina Pourmokhtari said she was “not particularly worried” about the review’s assessments.

“They are based on the government’s policy announcements during 2023, and there are several measures that have been added since then,” Pourmokhtari said.

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