Sweden's PM grilled by EU MEPs on his dependence on the far-right

[Celerity]

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson faced a barrage of questions in the European Parliament on Tuesday over his dependence on far-right support, with one MEP accusing him of being "a hostage" to the Sweden Democrats.

https://www.thelocal.se/20230117/swedens-pm-grilled-by-eu-meps-on-his-dependence-on-the-far-right/

https://archive.ph/lh1kC


Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson delivers his speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Kristersson protested that governments had been formed with far-right support in Finland, Norway and Denmark, and that Sweden was no different. “This government which Sweden has established has been a completely normal Nordic government since 2001,” he said. “This has been tried in Finland, Norway and Denmark with good results.”

Kristersson, leader of Sweden’s conservative Moderate Party, was in Strasbourg to present Sweden’s programme, as President of the European Council, to the parliament. Some of the most challenging questions came from MEPs from the green and left parties.

“Your government is now hostage to the Sweden Democrats,” declared the Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts, who is chair of the parliament’s green group, adding that his group were extremely concerned that a government with such a dependence on the far-right would be responsible for working on EU laws.

Manon Aubry, the French MEP who leads the Left grouping, warned that the Sweden Democrats “neo-Nazi use of language” was already widely spread in Europe. “You can’t play games with the extreme right, because when they take power, they will refuse to give it up in a democratic way,” he warned.

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[Mike Nelson]

1. Hmm...

... so Kristersson is a moderate (middle) politician, and "Democrats" are the far-right party in Sweden. Interesting... I remember first learning "Socialist" did not mean "Communist" outside of the USA. I do know that Sweden has a Trump-like movement, like most of the world. They are a minority, though loud... I thought Sweden and Finland would be in NATO by now.

[Celerity]

2. The Modertates are the old Right Party (Conservative) rebranded. They are centre right to right, a

typical 'liberal' European party. Liberal in most of the world means centre right, small(er) government, pro corporate, pro privitisation, lower taxes, free (not fair) trade, but also, usually, for civil liberties and the rule of law.

The Right (i.e. the Conservatives) changed their name to Moderaterna (Moderates) in 1969, and again to Nya Moderaterna, i.e. The New Moderates, for the 2006 general elections.

We also have a party called Liberalpartiet, The Liberlal Party, who are centre right as well.

The US is a definite global outlier when liberal is used there to refer to the left and/or center left. The US RW is so gaslit they equate liberalism with socialism, and thus, in their pervasive stupidity, communism.

'Democrat' as a name or part of name can mean anything, from far left totalitarian communist to far right nationalists and fascists.

[Mike Nelson]

3. Thank you...

... for explaining! I knew about the USA equating communism with socialism... a political "branding" move. Recently, I read up on the Russians' use of the term "Nazis" to define Ukraine. It is interesting how these words mean different things to different people. The Republicans are much better, in my opinion, at "branding" dishonestly.