Sweden shifts to tougher migration

Commentators said Sweden had shifted away from Reinfeldt-era openness toward more restrictive migration policies, prompting debate over whether the country had "lost its soul" or echoed broader European trends.

The Guardian

Sweden’s soul and worrying political shift | Letters

Alvin Engström and Jean Fridh respond to an article by Martin Gelin in which he argues that the country has entered a new era of cruelty I am writing in response to Martin Gelin’s article ( How Sweden lost its soul - and stopped being Sweden, 11 September ). Gelin is right to lament how far Swedish politics has moved from the liberal internationalism of the Fredrik Reinfeldt era. Having grown up in Malmö, I have seen how border controls with Denmark affect an Öresund region whose everyday life has long depended on easy movement across the strait. Gelin is right to see this retreat from openness as consequential. But to say that Sweden has therefore “lost its soul” goes too far. Its political shift is neither uniquely Swedish nor evidence that the country has somehow ceased to be itself. Reinfeldt’s “open your hearts” Sweden faded in much the same European political moment as Angela Merkel’s “ Wir schaffen das ” Germany. Across the European mainland, mainstream parties have adopted more restrictive positions on migration. Continue reading. . .

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Süddeutsche Zeitung

Sweden: Hooray, there is a clear loser: the right-wing populists

The election offers a lesson for other countries. Even parties like the Sweden Democrats are, at times, subject to the dynamics of a functioning democracy.

Reposts 0 21h

Svenska Dagbladet