Swedish parties strike deal to govern with hard-right backing

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three center-right Swedish parties announced on Friday that they had reached an agreement to form a coalition government that would not include Sweden’s anti-immigration Democrats but depend on their support in parliament.

The deal comes after a month of talks following the September 11 election that gave the Swedish Democrats, a party with far-right roots, an unprecedented position of influence in Swedish politics.

Opposition leader Ulf Kristersson said his moderate Conservative party would form a centre-right coalition government with the Liberals and Christian Democrats. The Swedish Democrats would be outside the coalition but would help shape government policy on the fringes. The centre-right coalition depends on the support of Sweden’s Democrats to secure a majority in Parliament.

The party, founded by neo-Nazis and other far-right activists, moved into the mainstream under Jimmie Akesson, who since taking over the party in 2005 has elevated it from fringe movement to second most largest party in Sweden, with more than 20% of the vote.

Akesson said he would have preferred cabinet seats for his party, but he backed the deal that would give his party influence over government policy, including on immigration and criminal justice.

“For us, it was absolutely decisive that a change of power was a paradigm shift in immigration policy,” Akesson said, adding that Swedish asylum rules should not be more generous than does not require it by the European Union, of which Sweden has been a member since 1995.

Sweden and Germany stood out in Europe for their generous reception of asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa until the migration crisis of 2015-2016 led to stricter immigration controls.

An increase in gang violence in immigrant-dominated neighborhoods has led to widespread calls for even tighter controls on immigration and tougher sentences and deportations for foreign citizens who commit crimes in Sweden, policies long embraced by Swedish Democrats but imitated in recent years by both centre-left and centre-right parties.

Kristersson, who is expected to lead the next government, said his coalition and the Sweden Democrats had agreed to increase prison terms for gang members, including those under 18, and introduce special visiting areas for the police to crack down on crime.

« We’re also going to do a thorough overhaul of the entire penal code, with tougher penalties for violent and sexual crimes, » Kristersson posted on Facebook.

Kristersson was due to meet the Speaker of Parliament on Friday, who was to instruct him to formally form a cabinet. A parliamentary vote on Kristersson’s election as prime minister was expected on Monday.

Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of the centre-left Social Democrats continues to lead as an interim government until a new government is formed.

The Associated Press