Swedish Headlines

Swedish Headlines [ ] Sweden Treading Softly, Softly

Sweden Accused of Hypocrisy

By Peter Berlin

Some political analysts are criticizing the Swedish government for not taking sides in the current political turmoil in the United States. They argue that President Trump’s position on many political and social issues is incompatible with Sweden’s self-proclaimed role as defender of democratic values. These issues include racial relations, women’s and children’s rights, abortion, and the news media being labelled “the

Sweden to increase military spending

Photo: Joakim Nordstrand/Swedish Armed Forces military force to recapture some former Soviet domains, and following repeated Russian incursions on Swedish airspace and territorial waters, Sweden has decided to increase its defence spending by 40 percent. The budget increase amounts to SEK 27.5bn (US$ 3.1bn) by 2025. The new budget will include upgraded armaments as well as a substantial increase in military personnel. Sweden abolished conscription in 2010 during the political thaw as Russia transitioned from Communism to western-style

President Trump and Swedish Prime Minister Löfven give a joint statement at the White House in March 2018. Official White House Photo by Stephanie Chasez

enemy of the people.” While Swedish politicians have expressed strong objections to similar values being democracy, but re-introduced it in 2017 on a limited scale. The plan is now to increase the total number of military personnel from 60,000 at present to 90,000 by 2025.

Electric cars and “range anxiety”

Swedish roads has doubled in just two years, and yet they only constitute 3 percent of the country’s vehicles. One reason for the modest take-up is that public charging stations are having difficulties catching up with demand. Their numbers are insufficient, the sign-posting is poor, and prices and payment methods are perceived as confusing. Most owners of electric cars currently charge their batteries either at home or at the workplace, but unless the network of charging stations is widened quickly, people’s enthusiasm for switching from gasoline/diesel to electric may slow down due to “range anxiety” – the fear of becoming stranded in the middle of nowhere due to a flat battery. violated in countries like Belarus, Uganda, and South Africa under apartheid, their silence regarding the present electoral upheaval in the US is seen as hypocritical.

The main reason for Sweden’s reserved position is thought to be that formal Swedish objections will have no impact whatsoever on current events in the US, and that any interference will only sour the deep political, economic and security relations between the two countries. The willingness of Swedish politicians to speak out appears to be proportional to the impact they may have on countries that rely on Sweden for trade or

Observing that Russia is using

The number of electric cars on foreign aid.

COVID-19 update

Sweden has long made international headlines for its lenient approach to controlling the spread of the coronavirus. Like other European countries, Sweden is now experiencing a sudden and steep increase in the spread of the pandemic. Tests are detecting more than 4000 cases per day. The number of deaths per day, which was close to zero until mid-October, has now reached around 12, with a spike of 40 deaths reported on November 12. That said, it is still some way from the 100+ deaths per day in April.

Reluctant to admit that the trustbased approach may have failed, on November 5 Swedish authorities introduced new mitigating guidelines that apply to 18 of Sweden’s 21 regions where most of the cases are found. The content of the guidelines is similar to the strict rules elsewhere in Europe but differ by not being enforceable. The guidelines apply until November 26 when the situation will be re-assessed.