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In Sweden's latest election, voters in the small town of Sjobo gave the anti-migration Sweden Democrats party a far bigger share of their support than the country as a whole.
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voters → see → whole
It is a familiar political story in a place that became infamous almost 40 years ago, when many of its residents voted to reject the arrival of refugees, in a referendum that sent shockwaves across Sweden and Europe.
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that → become → Sweden
In 1987, Sweden adopted a new strategy to distribute refugees more evenly across the country, and asked Sjobo, then a town of around 15,400, to take in around 15 people.
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Sweden → adopt → people
The question swiftly sparked a heated clash between those in favour and those against.
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question → spark → favour
'Anyone can understand that the next generation of Swedes will no longer be blonde and blue-eyed,' Sven-Olle Olsson, a municipal councillor who was vehemently opposed, said at the time.
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who → understand → time
He organised a referendum on the issue.
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He → organise → issue
The decision to hold a vote in 1988, unheard of in Sweden, long a haven for the persecuted and war-weary, made headlines, and an avalanche of journalists, both domestic and foreign, descended on the small town.
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avalanche → hold → town
The controversial referendum forged a deep divide among residents in the small commune.
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referendum → forge → commune
In 1987, Sweden adopted a new strategy to distribute refugees more evenly across the country, and asked Sjobo to take in around 15 people.
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Sweden → adopt → people
Sjobo now fulfils its requirements by welcoming new arrivals, even taking in more than some other towns in the region, one councillor says
A man packs as he closes a fruit stand located in Sjobo, in Skane County, Sweden
'
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he → fulfil → County
There was a place here where they used to hold town parties.
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they → be → parties
And it wasn't possible anymore, because you couldn't party with someone who was in the "Yes" camp when the others were on the "No" side,' recalled Charlotte Ramel, speaking at the town hall.
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Ramel → party → hall
That stance made her the target of numerous threats, and her home was vandalised.
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home → make → threats
The 'No' side won the referendum with almost 68 per cent of votes, triggering a political storm in the country.
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side → win → country
Things have changed 'enormously' in Sjobo since 1988, according to Ms Ramel, now a municipal councillor herself who is trying to change Sjobo's image.
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who → change → image
She said the municipality now fulfils its requirements by welcoming new arrivals, even taking in more than some other towns in the region.
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municipality → say → region
But the political shift that once made Sjobo an outlier has grown even stronger in the small southern municipality.
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Sjobo → make → municipality
The anti-migration Sweden Democrats emerged from the election as Sweden's third-largest party, after winning 62 seats in the 349-member parliament.
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Democrats → emerge → parliament
The party won 43 per cent of votes in Sjobo in the 2022 general election, still enjoying strong support in the southern town known for its contentious September 1988 referendum.
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party → win → referendum
That support remained strong in this month's election, with the Sweden Democrats taking more than a third of the vote in several of Sjobo's polling districts.
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Democrats → remain → districts
The party won 38.8 per cent in Sjobo Linne, 33.8 per cent in Sjobo Emanuel and 36.1 per cent in Sjobo Farsinga in the parliamentary election.
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party → win → election
'In the end, Sjobo residents were right, if you want to put it that way,' 89-year-old Bengt Lundgren, who voted for the Sweden Democrats in the recent election, said with a broad grin.
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who → want → grin
Nationally, however, the picture shifted.
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picture → shift → ?
The Social Democrats emerged as the largest party, while the Sweden Democrats fell to third place with 62 seats.
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Democrats → emerge → seats
The centre-left bloc holds 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament, compared with 173 for the rightwing bloc, prompting Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to resign.
The Sweden Democrats entered Sweden's parliament for the first time in 2010, winning 5.7 per cent of the national vote, and the 2015 migrant crisis became a major turning point in the country's debate over immigration.
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crisis → hold → immigration
Over the past decade, views on immigration have shifted dramatically across the entire country, as Sweden struggles to integrate its immigrants.
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Sweden → shift → immigrants
Around 20 per cent of its population is born abroad, according to 2025 data from Statistics Sweden.
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cent → bear → Sweden
Since the 2015 migrant crisis that saw Sweden take in large numbers of asylum seekers, successive left and Right-wing governments have cracked down on immigration.
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governments → see → immigration
The Sweden Democrats took more than a third of the vote in several of Sjobo's polling districts
A woman rides her bike on the main street in Sjobo, Skane County, Sweden
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woman → take → Sjobo
The Right-wing minority government in power since 2022 has cut numbers even further, after reaching an unprecedented agreement with the hard-Right, giving it significant influence over government policy in exchange for its support.
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government → cut → support
The 2022 deal, known as the Tido Agreement, gave the Sweden Democrats an unprecedented role in shaping national policy despite the party not formally entering government.
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party → know → government
Immigration and integration, alongside crime, were among its central areas of co-operation with the governing parties.
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Immigration → govern → parties
Jimmie Akesson, the leader of the Sweden Democrats who hails from the same region as Sjobo, has therefore been able to impose his political agenda, with reducing immigration his top priority.
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reducing → hail → immigration
The party's focus is now on the 're-migration' of immigrants, either deporting them or giving them incentives to return to their home countries.
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focus → deport → countries
The country has experienced years of gang-related shootings, bombings and recruitment of young people, making crime one of the defining political issues alongside migration.
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crime → experience → migration
The number of shootings fell from 390 in 2022 to 147 in 2025, according to a Reuters analysis, although organised criminal networks and gang recruitment remain significant problems.
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networks → fall → analysis
According to a report published this year by the Swedish Institute for Futures Studies, around half of Swedes want fewer refugees.
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half → accord → refugees
The latest election has nevertheless produced another twist in Sweden's political upheaval.
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election → produce → upheaval
The centre-left opposition narrowly secured a parliamentary majority, meaning the country is now facing a change of government after four years of rule by Mr Kristersson's Right-wing coalition and its Sweden Democrat allies.
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country → secure → coalition
Edmir Mehmeti, a 24-year-old originally from Sjobo, stood as a parliamentary candidate for the conservative Moderate Party in Sunday's election.
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Mehmeti → stand → election
…and 18 more, not listed.
The Aporia
