Sweden Moves to the Right – A Failed Immigration Model
Following up on the poll results at the end of August which highlighted the astronomic rise of the right-wing populist Swedish Democrats, the GMF populism expert and Transatlantic Fellow, Dr. Timo Lochocki was interviewed by the Hamburger Abendblatt to offer his insights in to the future of Swedish politics.
Dr. Lochocki expressed his concerns that the Swedish Democrats have been ignored for too long by the established parties, and have been given an ideal opportunity to capitalize on the failure of the integration model in place in Sweden.
Although Sweden has often been lauded given its generous and socially liberal immigration policies, ever since a recession hit in the 1990s the mood has changed amongst the general public and fears have been festering as to the true potential for foreigners to integrate effectively and contribute to Swedish society. At the last election, the costs involved in caring for immigrants became a hotly contested topic which the Swedish Democrats were able to use to their advantage.
Dr. Lochocki asserts that attempts by the established parties to classify all Swedish Democrats supporters as extremists has severely backfired and only encouraged the public to see the populist party leaders as taboo-breakers, willing to speak out and represent the concerned citizens, despite the establishment’s attempts to hinder public debates over immigration and ignore their concerns.
If significant change does not occur soon in Sweden, and the traditional parties do not utilize different strategies to block the rise of the Swedish Democrats, Dr. Lochocki fears we may look back in ten years and the image of Sweden as a tolerant land may simply be a distant memory.
