More accurately, Swedish voters have simply returned to form, choosing progressive parties at the expense of the right.
asserted
voters → return → right
After all, Sweden did not gain its reputation as a social democratic stronghold because its voters historically favoured conservatives.
asserted
voters → gain → conservatives
The “Red-Green” opposition alliance and its liberal sidekicks have narrowly defeated the centre-right Moderate Party and its nationalist Sweden Democrat allies and other partners in the “Tidö” bloc.
asserted
alliance → defeat → bloc
The Red-Green bloc is likely to hold 176 seats, compared with 173 for the Tidö parties.
asserted
bloc → hold → parties
Former prime minister Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats, the largest party in the Swedish parliament, will likely return to office.
asserted
Andersson → return → office
Immigration was a top issue, with opposition to mass immigration and ethnic minority enclaves animating supporters of both the Tidö bloc and the Social Democrats.
asserted
opposition → animate → bloc
Now, it is clear that the voters from an immigrant background overwhelmingly rejected the right, and that had an impact in such a tight contest.
asserted
that → reject → contest
However, the right’s failure to make inroads with working and middle-class voters who have traditionally voted for the Social Democrats mattered more.
asserted
who → make → Democrats
Assuming the Social Democrats do not renege on their campaign promises, Sweden will remain alongside Denmark among the countries with the toughest policies on migration, asylum and integration, with deportation programs on the table.
asserted
Sweden → assume → table
The Social Democrats, Moderates, and Sweden Democrats have reached a consensus, particularly on returning unsuccessful asylum claimants to their countries of origin and deporting foreign criminals more effectively.
asserted
Democrats → reach → criminals
Andersson’s party has demanded that newcomers speak Swedish and have a thorough understanding of the country’s civic life to qualify for permanent residency.
asserted
newcomers → demand → residency
She has also pledged to tightly control labour immigration and limit asylum provisions to the minimum required by the European Union.
asserted
She → pledge → Union
The Social Democrats had some quibbles with the Moderate-led government over revoking permanent residency, it is true.
asserted
it → have → residency
But there will be no return to the open-door policies of the 2010s that unsettled Swedish society and helped make it one of Europe’s most gang-ridden countries.
asserted
it → unsettle → countries
Denmark’s left-of-centre government, headed by Mette Frederiksen, has implemented one of Europe’s toughest migration programs, coupling restrictions with demanding integration requirements and a strict deportation policy.
asserted
government → head → requirements
Just this year, the Danish parliament strengthened deportation provisions for foreign nationals sentenced to at least a year in prison for serious crimes.
asserted
parliament → strengthen → crimes
A decade ago, such policies would have been attacked as a lurch to the far right.
asserted
policies → attack → right
Now, they are championed by capital-S Social Democrats who believe bad actors do not deserve a share of the welfare state.
asserted
actors → champion → state
It is an effective, straightforward political strategy that acknowledges voters’ opposition to soft borders, allowing elections to be fought on jobs and the economy.
asserted
elections → acknowledge → jobs
Andersson looks set to ride that approach back to power.
asserted
Andersson → look → power
Sunday’s Swedish election was shaped not only by immigration but also by crime and the economy.
asserted
election → shape → crime
Unemployment in Sweden reached 8.9 per cent last year, and the conservative government faced criticism over deteriorating health care and other public services.
asserted
government → reach → care
Andersson’s acceptance that the right had won the argument on immigration does not erase voters’ other concerns.
asserted
right → win → concerns
Wanting fewer bogus asylum claims is perfectly compatible with demanding better hospitals.
uncertain
Wanting → want → hospitals
Many on the left have tried to dodge the fact that voters are fed up with the permissive immigration policies that dominated western politics for a generation.
asserted
that → try → generation
They have psychoanalyzed the electorate and publicly dismissed concerns over immigration as mere expressions of economic anxiety and frustration over unaffordable housing.
asserted
They → psychoanalyze → housing
Is it possible that people believe their countries are full and do not want more strangers waltzing in with the government’s endorsement?
asserted
strangers → believe → endorsement
The economy and immigration are intimately connected.
asserted
economy → connect → ?
As the local board of trade always laments, there is a “labour shortage” in times of plenty and scarcity.
asserted
board → lament → plenty
A rapidly expanding labour supply can depress wages when it outpaces demand.
asserted
it → expand → demand
Immigration can also intensify competition for expensive housing, while Sweden’s immigration debate has been sharpened by a surge in gang warfare.
asserted
debate → intensify → warfare
Put simply, people are arriving too quickly and in numbers too great to readily become neighbours.
asserted
people → Put → numbers
Citizens do not want their country to become an “island of strangers,” as former British prime minister Keir Starmer reasonably put it last year.
asserted
Starmer → want → it
As Andersson stated back in 2022, not everyone in Sweden is comfortable with ethnic enclaves springing up: “We don’t want Chinatowns in Sweden; we don’t want Somalitown or Little Italy.”
asserted
we → state → Somalitown
Swedish opinion polls have found that 86 per cent of respondents want foreigners imprisoned for violent crimes to be expelled from the country.
asserted
foreigners → find → country
At the same time, 76 per cent back helping legitimate refugees adapt to Swedish culture and traditions.
asserted
refugees → back → culture
Restriction and integration go hand in hand for those voters.
asserted
Restriction → go → voters
Sweden’s National Council for Crime Prevention has documented the overrepresentation of people with foreign backgrounds among homicide perpetrators and victims.
asserted
Council → document → perpetrators
Social cohesion is a real, heartfelt concern, despite attempts by many leftists to dismiss it as a rhetorical bludgeon or a “dog whistle.”
asserted
cohesion → dismiss → bludgeon
As the Social Democrats in Sweden and Denmark are showing, people want to share their welfare state only with those they think deserve it.
asserted
they → show → it
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
