London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

Sweden’s incoming prime minister shifts right

Sweden’s incoming prime minister shifts right

Ulf Kristersson will head a three-party government with additional support from the far-right Sweden Democrats.

Sweden’s incoming prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, on Friday presented his plan for a three-party government with a clear underlying message: Sweden first.

The number of asylum seekers allowed to enter Sweden will be reduced, the amount of international aid the country will provide will be cut and its aspirations to be a trailblazer in the global shift to renewable energy will be tempered, Kristersson told reporters in parliament.

Kristersson, the narrow victor at a general election on September 11, said his new government will be made up of his Moderate Party and two other center-right parties, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals.

The far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) were shut out of the government, but will provide the parliamentary support Kristersson will need to become prime minister and to make his policy and spending plans a reality.

The cost of shutting out SD, which has roots in 1990s neo-Nazi groups, while securing its parliamentary support was high in policy terms.

The new government’s plan — dubbed “An agreement for Sweden” — was heavily influenced by SD’s election promises in areas from welfare to law and order to energy.

Punishments for serious and organized crime are to be increased, more nuclear power stations are to be built and social security payments to those made redundant will not be cut.

But it was arguably when it comes to Sweden’s role on the international stage that the views of SD can be most keenly felt: The number of asylum seekers the Nordic country will accept is to be cut to the EU minimum and a previous goal to allot 1 percent of gross national income to international aid is set to be scrapped.

In essence, Sweden’s days of aspiring to be a “humanitarian superpower” are over.

Kristersson said that compromise with SD and his other allies had been necessary in order to create the new government he believed Sweden needed.

“We have done what we said during the election campaign,” Kristersson said. “We have reached an agreement which we believe is good for Sweden.”

Parliament will vote on Kristersson’s candidacy to be prime minister on Monday, with Friday’s deal paving the way for him to win that vote 176 to 173. He is expected to announce his ministerial team on Tuesday and his budget for 2023 within the following weeks.


Challenges ahead


Once installed, the new government will face a series of domestic challenges from spiking energy prices to rising gang crime.

On the international stage, Sweden takes over the presidency of the Council of the EU in January from the Czech Republic and the government will need to reconcile the anti-EU tendencies of SD with the pro-Europe leanings of the wider government before then.

Sweden is also in the late stages of negotiating its entry into NATO alongside Finland. Kristersson has left the outgoing Social Democratic government’s key negotiator Oscar Stenström in place to smooth that process.

Critics were quick to suggest that the inbuilt tensions within the new government and its support party SD will make maintaining government stability difficult over the course of a four-year mandate.

Analysts note that, at any point, SD can team up with the Social Democrats and create a majority on any policy in parliament, giving SD powerful leverage over the new coalition.

However, if SD pushes too hard, the government may fold, allowing the Social Democrats back into power and robbing SD of its current influence.

On Friday, Kristersson, a former minister of social affairs who became Moderate Party leader in 2017, was positive about the task ahead and the agreement the new government had struck.

“I am not saying this is going to be easy, but the shared values we have in important questions is a strong foundation to stand on,” he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
×