“The EU is not the way to cooperate in Europe,” Party chief Jimmie Akesson said on Sveriges Radio, calling for a Brexit-style vote. “My position is that we should renegotiate the terms [of our membership] of the EU and then the people should have its say.”
The comments come just one day after two of the party’s MEPs posted an opinion piece online urging Sweden to push ahead with its “Swexit” strategy.
“The Sweden Democrats want to leave the European Union,” wrote Kristina Winberg and Peter Lundgren. “We do not want to have some unelected EU Commission, which together with the court and the parliament can bulldoze over member states even if they say ‘no’ the whole way.”
National support for the Sweden Democrats has risen in tandem with anti-immigrant sentiment in the country in recent years. In the 2014 election, the party received nearly 13 percent of the vote and became the third largest party in Sweden.
In June, polls showed that the party to be rising and be nearly even with the ruling Social Democrats ahead of next month’s general election. One Poll on 1st August conducted by Sentio had them leading with 25.5% of the vote. A YouGov Poll weeks before had them them at 25.7% The more liberal Social Democrats, currently in a coalition government with the Green Party, polled at 21 percent.
However, Akesson is not confident that the Sweden Democrats can pull off a shock win next month. Even if they did win, they would find it hard to find partners and would no doubt end up being sidelined by the Establishment like Geert Wilders from PVV in The Netherlands and Marine Le Pen in France and similarly in Austria and Slovakia. If they can find a partner, they would achieve the same success Matteo Salvini and De Maio achieved in Italy.
“I don’t believe that I’m going to be sitting in the government after the election,” he told Sveriges Radio. He did concede that he thought his party would have “a significant influence.”
Only recently nearly half of Swedes and Danes said they’d rather be in a ‘Nordic Union’ with their neighbors from Norway, Finland and Iceland than in the EU, a fresh poll revealed.
Research also conducted by pollster Sentio for Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen showed 47 percent support the hypothetical Nordic Union in Sweden and 45 percent in Denmark. 32 Percent of Swedes and 36 percent of Danes were happy to remain in the European Union, while the rest said they were undecided on the issue.
As for non-EU member Norway, only 10 percent suggested that it would be a good idea for the country to join the European Union. The concept of the so-called ‘Nordic Union,’ which would see Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland implementing joint policies, was backed by 32 percent of Norwegians.
The poll was conducted in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, with around 1,000 people surveyed in each of the countries. The researchers didn’t ask those in Finland and Iceland for their opinion.
The respondents weren’t asked in the survey to explain the reasons behind their low level of trust in the EU.
With the bloc going through a massive migrant crisis since 2015, Sweden and Denmark were forced to accommodate thousands. The authorities in Denmark have taken a tough stance on migrants, admitting that integration policies have failed in the country. They announced plans to teach “Danish values” to children in ghettos and introduced a ban on burqa female full body veils, with huge fines for repeat offenders.
Don Murray
The more countries that begin to get teeth against the EU, the better. Retaining one’s culture and independence is crucial. I wish them luck