The national conservative Sweden Democrats are cementing their place in Swedish politics, with party leader Jimmie Åkesson announcing that his party is prepared to enter the next government after 2026, a move that would potentially dislodge the ruling Moderate Party and centrist PM Ulf Kristersson.
Åkesson made the comments in an interview about speeding up the Swedish deportation process. The populist leader has been propping up a three-party centrist coalition since 2022, but in his remarks, Åkesson made it clear that he wants his party to be a formal part of the next government.
The Sweden Democrats have been growing steadily since it first entered parliament in 2010, seeing its support soar during the migration crisis of 2015-2016. The party grew from 5.7% of the vote in the 2010 elections to 17.5% in the 2018 elections. In the 2022 elections, the Sweden Democrats for the first time surpassed Kristersson’s party in voter support, with 20.5% to the Moderates’ 19.5%. Their confidence and supply agreement gives them a kingmaker role outside of the government and has helped reform the country’s notoriously lax migration policy.
“There are no arguments for keeping us out,” Åkesson affirmed. The party was recently found to have the strictest views on migration in the European Parliament and has considered taking a more eurosceptic stance for the European Parliament if the EU continues threatening member-state sovereignty.
Åkesson’s comments place serious pressure on Swedish PM Kristersson as polls suggest the Sweden Democrats could again win over 20% of the vote, putting them ahead of Kristersson’s Moderate Party. The rise of the Sweden Democrats has occurred at the same time as the country’s ongoing asylum crisis, with Stockholm opening for deploying its armed forces to deal with a spike in migrant-related crime.
The support of Åkesson and the Sweden Democrats will be essential to the renewal of any centre-right coalition for the next election, while the left-wing Social Democrats hope to make a rebound after falling out of power in 2022.
