Why the far-right is surging in Sweden

EU’s most liberal country could be next to
face populist earthquake, analysts suggest

One-Minute Read

Dozens of people have been killed over the past two years by
gangs mostly from run-down suburbs dominated by immigrants. The
latest attack came last week, when four men were shot dead and
three wounded in Sweden’s third-largest city, Malmo.

The rise in violence, which has been linked to Sweden’s liberal
“open-door” policies, has “stirred anti-immigration sentiment” in
the country, reports Reuters, “putting a far-right party on course
for big gains in one of Europe’s most liberal countries”.

Sweden Democrats, who are campaigning to freeze all immigration
and to hold a referendum on Sweden’s membership of the EU, are now
polling at 20%, behind the Social Democrats but ahead of the main
opposition Moderates.

The rise of a party which Reuters says has “neo-Nazi roots”, has
sparked widespread alarm among Sweden’s mainstream politicians,
many of whom have started moving to the right on crime and
immigration to try to counter the threat posed by Sweden
Democrats.

It is also causing concern in Brussels, which has seen
anti-immigrant nationalist parties make huge gains across Europe in
the wake of the migrant crisis.

Rightwing parties have effectively become the main opposition in
France and Germany following elections last year, while anti-EU,
anti-immigrant parties make up some or all of their respective
governments in Italy, Austria, Hungary and Poland.

While all major Swedish parties have ruled out working with the
Sweden Democrats after the 9 September election, a strong showing
at the polls could see them emerge as kingmakers, forcing whoever
forms the next government to adopt a more hardline immigration
stance.