With days to go until the Swedish people head to the polls to elect a new government, Jimmie Åkesson, the leader of the national-conservative Sweden Democrats, has responded to smears leveled against his party by the ruling Social Democratic Party, telling Swedes that it is the leftist, pro-mass migration party which poses a real threat to the country.
The Sweden Democrats chief’s sharp statements, published on Friday in a debate article for the newspaper Expressen, came in response to an earlier press conference which saw two Social Democrat ministers claim the right-wing populist party—which at the moment is polling as the second-most popular party—constitutes a “security and foreign policy threat” to the country.
During the Friday morning press conference, Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist (S) and Integration and Migration Minister Anders Ygeman (S) leveled the typical, baseless accusations against their right-wing opponents, claiming that the party maintains ties to Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation.
“There is no doubt that the Sweden Democrats’ connections to Russia can pose a security risk for Sweden,” Ygeman claimed.
In the hours which followed the early morning press conference, Åkesson wrote that the Social Democrats should keep the words “security threat” out of their mouths, given that they are “obviously a walking threat to Sweden.”
“We have seen similar rhetoric from other authoritarian and powerful parties around the world,” Åkesson continued. “They are simply trying to spread fear, lies, and conspiracy theories about the opposition because they are afraid of losing power.”
Then, after highlighting the Social Democrats’ cozy relationship with Islamists and slamming the immigration minister for giving “unauthorized foreign personnel access to classified information about Swedish citizens,” Åkesson wrote:
We want to talk about the Social Democrats’ total failure to pursue a responsible migration policy, to stop the gross escalating violence, and the punishment of the Swedish people through a policy that drives up the costs of energy, fuel, and food.
It is worth noting that on the evening before the Social Democrat ministers sought to darken their main political adversary’s reputation, U.S. President Joe Biden gave a speech where he—like the Swedish ministers—claimed that the Democratic Party’s political opposition, namely Trump-supporting Republicans, represent a threat to democracy, the rule of law, and the country.
Biden’s speech, like the statements given by the Swedish ministers, has been regarded by many as a desperate and distasteful attempt to slander right-wing populists and anti-globalists ahead of elections, in which they are poised to perform quite well.
