Rising Swedish party with neo-nazi roots raises prospect of ‘Swexit’
A SWEDISH nationalist party with roots in neo-nazi movements is set to bring the once-unthinkable idea of leaving the EU on to the country’s agenda, as polls suggest it could win a quarter of the vote in elections this weekend.
Sweden Democrats, which blames migrants and refugees for a rise in rapes, gun crime and riots, is projected to make unprecedented gains in traditionally liberal Sweden.
Alongside a two-year ban on asylum seekers and increases in public spending on welfare, the party has vowed to deliver a David Cameron-style renegotiation of the country’s relationship with the EU, followed by a referendum.
The radical Right-wing party’s popularity has soared due to its hard line on the 2015 refugee crisis, which saw Sweden take more refugees per head than any other European country.
It hopes tomorrow’s elections will give it the chance to form a coalition government with centre-right parties.
A poll by state broadcaster STV suggests that voters who would usually ignore the party, now support it. STV also reported recently that 58per cent of rapes in the past five years had been committed by foreigners.
Experts predict the vote will drastically change the face of Swedish politics, unseating Stefan Löfven, the prime minister, and bringing the fringe issue of EU membership to the fore. They also believe Mr Löfven’s ruling Social Democrats will suffer heavy losses and fail to form a government, while the centre-right Alliance bloc may also fall short of a majority.
Though the mainstream parties have refused to join forces with the Sweden Democrats, citing its former links to neo-nazi groups, they may have no option if the nationalists performs as strongly as projected.
In a re-branding attempt, the party has adopted a zero-tolerance policy on racism, swapped its National Front inspired logo for a blue and yellow flower and rejected the labels “farright” and “populist”, calling itself a nationalist conservative movement. Senior members of the party told The
Daily Telegraph that Sweden should follow Britain out of the EU, regain full control of its borders and stop accepting refugees from the Middle East.
Mattias Karlsson, its leader in the Riksdag, called for exemption from EU refugee policies and the Schengen zone, which eliminates passport checks at the borders of 26 EU countries.
“That is step one,” he said, adding that Swedes should create their own laws rather than those made in Brussels. “We are not focusing on it during the campaign, as that is all about immigration, but after the election we would want to do it like the British did – renegotiate with the EU and then hold a referendum,” he said.
Peter Wallmark, party chairman in Stockholm, said: “We’re watching your country very closely to see how it does in the Brexit negotiations.”
But the polls suggest only 20 per cent of Swedish voters want to quit the EU as the economy is strong, with its public spending surplus set to grow until 2020.