Sweden in Focus

This week: Final election results, far right blames immigrants for loss, and what the election outcome means for foreigners in Sweden.  200,000 foreigners who have become Swedish citizens are to blame for Sweden’s tiny swing to the left – and in particular for the losses suffered by the Sweden Democrats. That’s the claim being made by the party as it grapples with a surprise electoral reverse in Sunday’s election.But is it accurate to say that immigrants won this election for the Left?Host James Savage is joined this week by panelists Mandy Pipher and Richard Orange. Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:2026 Swedish election Kristersson resigns as PM after Sweden's centre-left opposition wins electionJimmie Åkesson reportedly plans break if Sweden Democrats enter oppositionOPINION: The misunderstood Centre Party could learn from Ebba Busch'It's tighter than I thought': How do foreigners in Sweden feel about the election?What does Sweden's unexpectedly close election result mean for foreigners?Swedish government scenarios: What happens now?Thumbnail on Spotify: Social Democrat party leader Magdalena Andersson and party secretary Tobias Baudin celebrate with supporter on election night. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

All three parties in the governing coalition increased their vote share while the Sweden Democrats lost ground.On the left, meanwhile, the Social Democrats had a terrible election, while all the other parties had something to celebrate.So why did the government parties do better than expected? What went wrong for the two biggest parties on the right and left?And what is Sweden's next government likely to look like? Nicholas Aylott, associate politics professor at Södertörn University, gives his views in a conversation with The Local's Richard Orange.  READ ALSO:Centre Party 'ready to start talks' with Social Democrats on new Swedish government

In this week’s Sweden in Focus Extra our panelists try to make sense of a dizzying election night.Sweden’s election threw up some major surprises on Sunday night.The Liberals cleared the parliamentary threshold by a respectable margin having languished way beneath the four percent limit ever since the last election.The Social Democrats are seemingly on course for their worst election ever – but leader Magdalena Andersson could still be headed for a second stint as Sweden’s prime minister.The incumbent, Ulf Kristersson, meanwhile can breathe a sigh of relief as his Moderate Party regained its position as Sweden’s second biggest party.Their rise came at the expense of the Sweden Democrats, whose vote share dropped for the first time ever in a national election.But what does it all mean for the business of forming a new government?Host James Savage is joined this week by podcast regulars Emma Löfgren and Richard Orange.READ ALSO:What does Sweden's unexpectedly close election result mean for foreigners?

This week: Joy for Liberals as support swells, Sweden Democrats and Left Party hit by scandals, immigration in focus in TV debate, billionaires duel over which side to back, and poor school results throw a spanner in the works. Two of Sweden’s wealthiest people, Jacob Wallenberg and Martin Lorentzon, warned in the Financial Times this week about the risks of a left-wing government. Another, Robert Weil, shot back, saying he was more concerned about “an ethno-nationalist and authoritarian policy where the issue of migration is allowed to dominate at the expense of other issues and interests."Meanwhile, the Liberals are poised to clear the 4 percent threshold they need to get into parliament, according to a new Novus poll showing that the party had leapt from 1.9 percent to 5.8 percent.The poll follows others that showed significant gains for the Liberals after months in which the party has languished well under the threshold, leaving many commentators to all but write off their chances – and those of Ulf Kristersson’s government.On Sunday we'll find out if the Prime Minister's coalition has done enough to claw their way back or if Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson gets a second bite at the top job. Host James Savage is joined this week by panelists Emma Löfgren and Richard Orange. Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:2026 Swedish election Swedish election blog: Who will govern Sweden after September 13th?Swedish Liberal Party soars over parliamentary threshold in new pollPolitics in Sweden: Immigration is on the agenda, but the debate is surrealTop Swedish investor slams Wallenberg's 'shameful' election scaremongeringRussian partner of top Sweden Democrat accused of pro-Putin postsOPINION: Has Jimmie Åkesson been playing the Swedish media like a fiddle?

Today's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra features an interview with Ludvig Aspling, migration spokesperson for the Sweden Democrats. This week we are turning a spotlight on the two parties most likely to shape Sweden’s immigration policy after the September 13th election.Yesterday we heard from Ida Karkiainen, the Social Democrats’ immigration spokesperson. Today we’ll hear a conversation The Local's Richard Orange had with her counterpart from the Sweden Democrats, Ludvig Aspling. This interview took place in early August, a week before parliament voted on a so-called ‘safety valve’ to end teen deportations, which is one of the topics discussed in the episode. The Sweden Democrats were long a pariah in Swedish politics due to their Nazi roots. But as the largest party on the right in the 2022 election they emerged as one of the main architects of the Tidö agreement underpinning the government’s so-called paradigm shift on immigration over the past four years.The shift has seen Sweden get much tougher on asylum immigration, work and residence permits and citizenship, with many of the policies directly impacting a lot of readers of The Local.With that in mind, make sure to tune in to this week’s main episode of Sweden in Focus, which we expect to come out on Friday, for discussion and analysis of these interviews with the main immigration spokespeople for two of Sweden’s biggest rival parties.So what can foreigners in Sweden expect if the right holds on to power after the election on Sunday and the Sweden Democrats receive ministerial posts for the first time, and how happy is Ludvig Aspling with how Sweden’s immigration landscape has changed over the last four years?Tune in for the full interview. READ ALSO:'If you came to work in Sweden because of relaxed citizenship rules, I don’t want you'

This week’s episode of Sweden in Focus Extra features an interview with Ida Karkiainen, migration spokesperson for the Social Democrats. With the Swedish election just days away, the podcast this week features conversations The Local's Richard Orange had recently with two of the people in with a strong chance of becoming Sweden’s next migration minister: Ida Karkiainen of the Social Democrats and Ludvig Aspling of the Sweden Democrats.First up: Ida Karkiainen. She is immigration spokesperson for the Social Democrats, and with her party tipped to lead Sweden’s next government we wanted to find out what direction Sweden would take on immigration under their leadership.The Social Democrats have been broadly on board with many of the changes to migration law ushered in by the current government but they have also been critical of a number of issues, such at how the government has handled the teen deportation scandal and its failure to allow transitional rules for citizenship applicants.Tune in for the full interview. READ ALSO:'We don't want people who are integrated in Sweden to be forced to leave'Social Democrats plan huge inquiry to clean up Swedish immigration law

This week: Right closing the gap on Sweden's left-wing opposition, party pledges explained, and could an extremist in Örebro get into the Riksdag? Oh, and fermented herring season is upon us.A poll released this week showed the Sweden's government further closing the gap on the opposition. An election that looked like a foregone conclusion is now anything but. Host James Savage is joined this week by panelists Emma Löfgren and Richard Orange. Here are links to some of the topics discussed in the episode:2026 Swedish election Swedish opposition parties' lead collapses in shock new pollKEY POINTS: How party election pledges could affect foreigners in SwedenPolitics in Sweden: The small-town demagogue aiming for a Riksdag spotFood & DrinkWhat you need to know before trying Sweden's fermented herring

For a recent article on the real-life effects of Sweden's immigration laws on families in Sweden, The Local's Mandy Pipher spoke with a Swedish-American couple who are both biological scientists and living in Uppsala.The pair met a decade ago when Anna-Karin moved to Chicago for a postdoctoral position in immunology and flu vaccine research. Chris, also a biologist, was finishing his immunology PhD at the same university. Three years later, when Anna-Karin was moving back to Sweden for another work opportunity, the two were a committed couple, and they made plans for Chris to follow to Sweden as soon as possible.By the summer of 2021, Chris was on his way to Sweden with a job offer from Karolinska, Sweden's prestigious medical research institute in hand.But despite have a Swedish spouse, owning a home together in Sweden, speaking Swedish, and doing years of valuable work at one of Sweden's top research institutes, Chris was given just days to leave the country or risk being served with a Schengen area entry ban. READ ALSO:'I felt betrayed by my country': Swedish scientist blasts treatment of US husband