Sweden Democrats

Sweden Democrats (Swedish: Sverigedemokraterna; SD) is a conservative political party in Sweden. It is led by Jimmie Åkesson. A conservative party, the SD rapidly increased in size in the early 21st century due to public opposition to the growing liberalism, socialism, and cultural Marxism in the country.^[1] The party has been falsely labeled as "far-right" and even "neo-Nazi" by the mainstream media, far-leftists, and open borders activists,^[2] and left-wing individuals have committed harassment and violence against the party and its supporters.^[3][4]

History[edit]

Sweden Democrats was founded in 1988. The party has gained populist sentiment in recent years in a country that has traditionally been suspicious of nationalist sentiment. In 2010, the party entered parliament for the first time with 5.7% of the popular vote, and it received 12.9% of the vote in the 2014 elections.

In 2015, the Sweden Democrats cut ties with its youth organization, Young Sweden Democrats, who were impatient with the slow pace of reform and for alleged skinhead associations. In March 2017, the SD grew to become the most popular party in Sweden, according to polls,^[5] and it surged in the polls leading up to the 2018 elections because of the increasingly apparent negative effects of mass migration in the country.^[4][6] The Sweden Democrats received 17.6% of the vote in the 2018 election, which, while lower than some observers had expected, was still a large increase which coincided with a hung parliament and the Social Democrats' worst result since 1908.^[7] Regardless, the SD achieved an ideological victory as the mainstream parties adopted similar migration policies as it.^[8] The SD performed very well in Skåne County in southern Sweden,^[9] and it won more seats than its number of candidates for 17 city councils.^[10] A member of the SD became the mayor of a municipality for the first time in the party's history,^[11] and by June 2019, the party helped govern five municipalities.^[12] The SD also was the victim of electoral fraud.^[13]

The Sweden Democrats continued growing, and in a November 2019 poll, it had become the largest party in Sweden.^[14] In December 2019, the Moderate Party caved and dropped its opposition to cooperating with the Sweden Democrats.^[15][16]

In October 2020, the SD-controlled municipality of Hörby enacted a new flag policy that prohibited the municipality from flying the LGBT flag.^[17]

Policies[edit]

The SD takes a strong position against mass migration.^[18] It is Euroskeptic and supported leaving the European Union,^[19] though Åkesson admitted in February 2019 that the EU's anti-Brexit tactics caused him to reconsider campaigning for independence.^[20][21] Unlike other Swedish political parties, the SD acknowledges the existence of "No Go Zones."^[22][23] The party takes strongly pro-Israel positions,^[24] and it supports relocating Sweden's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.^[25] In 2018, the SD has three Jewish lawmakers in the country's parliament.^[26]

See also[edit]

• European migrant crisis

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website