Sweden’s right swing

WHY?: MIGRANTS VERSUS WELFARE

Kopparberg

Those wondering why Swedish politics are set to lurch to the right in Sunday’s election need look no further than Ljusnarsberg, a tiny central county of forests and lakes.

Many inhabitants of this once-booming region are uneasy about asylum-seekers after a large number arrived here in 2015. Some also feel that Sweden’s widely admired tax and welfare model has left them behind.

Fears over globalisation’s effect on industrial jobs, the pressure of an ageing population and a failure to integrate minorities have boosted right-wing parties from Italy and Germany to Britain and the United States.

Polls indicating one in five voters in Sweden are likely to back a party with roots in the far-right fringe on Sunday show that even seemingly successful political systems are vulnerable. Several online surveys indicate the anti-immigration, anti-European Union Sweden Democrats could become the largest party.

Most people in the county live in Kopparberg, built on copper and iron mines. For many years, it was a heartland of the ruling Social Democrats. Its swing to the right highlights election themes of asylum and a split between poor rural or suburban areas home to immigrants and wealthy places like Stockholm. Ljusnarsberg’s unemployment last year was nearly 13%, almost double the national level. Many live on sickness benefits, masking the figures of those relying on welfare.

When Sweden took in 163 000 asylum-seekers in 2015, Ljusnarsberg got 1 200.

Staffan Myrman, 53, who works at Kopparberg brewery. said: “When 25 to 30% of the population are refugees, we can’t cope.” – Reuters