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Far-right Sweden Democrats axe MEP amid harassment claims
Source: The Guardian
Far-right Sweden Democrats axe MEP amid harassment claims
Candidate accused of disloyalty after complaining that another female member was harassed
Jon Henley Europe correspondent
Mon 20 May 2019 15.10 BST Last modified on Mon 20 May 2019 16.51 BST
The far-right Sweden Democrats have removed a female MEP from their list of candidates for this week’s European elections, accusing her of disloyalty after she complained that another female member had been sexually harassed by a senior party figure, Swedish media have reported.
It is is the second scandal involving a European far-right party in a matter of days, following the resignation on Saturday of Austria’s vice-chancellor, Heinz-Christian Strache, over a video appearing to show him offering public contracts to a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch in exchange for campaign help. Strache says he was drunk and “acting like a teenager”.
The Sweden Democrats said Kristina Winberg, an MEP for the anti-immigration party since 2014, was informed on Sunday that her membership had been suspended and she was no longer a candidate in the elections on 26 May.
The party said the MEP had chosen to “cut all ties with the party’s election organisation”, “consistently refused to cooperate and adapt to the party’s communication strategy” and “no longer felt any loyalty to the party”.
-snip-
According to the magazine Expressen, Winberg was sacked a day after its reporter confronted Peter Lundgren, the party’s lead candidate in the European elections, with allegations of sexual harassment against another party member.
-snip-
Candidate accused of disloyalty after complaining that another female member was harassed
Jon Henley Europe correspondent
Mon 20 May 2019 15.10 BST Last modified on Mon 20 May 2019 16.51 BST
The far-right Sweden Democrats have removed a female MEP from their list of candidates for this week’s European elections, accusing her of disloyalty after she complained that another female member had been sexually harassed by a senior party figure, Swedish media have reported.
It is is the second scandal involving a European far-right party in a matter of days, following the resignation on Saturday of Austria’s vice-chancellor, Heinz-Christian Strache, over a video appearing to show him offering public contracts to a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch in exchange for campaign help. Strache says he was drunk and “acting like a teenager”.
The Sweden Democrats said Kristina Winberg, an MEP for the anti-immigration party since 2014, was informed on Sunday that her membership had been suspended and she was no longer a candidate in the elections on 26 May.
The party said the MEP had chosen to “cut all ties with the party’s election organisation”, “consistently refused to cooperate and adapt to the party’s communication strategy” and “no longer felt any loyalty to the party”.
-snip-
According to the magazine Expressen, Winberg was sacked a day after its reporter confronted Peter Lundgren, the party’s lead candidate in the European elections, with allegations of sexual harassment against another party member.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/20/far-right-sweden-democrats-axe-mep-kristina-winberg-amid-harassment-claims
