Prime Minister Kristersson
“Very serious situation in Sweden”
Sweden’s new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson painted a bleak picture of his country’s state in his first Christmas speech.
Sweden’s new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
“Sweden is in a very serious situation,” said the conservative politician on Wednesday. He referred to the global climate crisis and three parallel crises from his point of view: the internal Swedish security crisis with constant gun crimes, the external security crisis with Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine and the energy crisis.
The 58-year-old expressed concern about the deadly gun violence in his country. No other country in the EU has anywhere near as severe a problem as Sweden in this respect, he said. Abroad, Sweden is generally perceived as peaceful and harmonious.
60 people killed
From the beginning of the year to mid-December, there were 378 gun incidents, killing 60 and injuring 104. In comparison, there were only four deaths in Denmark and Norway and two in Finland. In Södertälje near Stockholm, as many people have been shot so far this year as in all of London. Young people in particular are being killed and killing, almost always as part of organized crime gangs and almost always with a foreign background, he said.
Kristersson has been prime minister since mid-October. At that time he succeeded the social democrat Magdalena Andersson and governs with a conservative-liberal three-party coalition, which would not achieve its own majority without the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats. That is why the government has entered into cooperation with the right, a first for the Scandinavian EU country. She works closely with the party in parliament, including in the fight against criminals.
(SDA)