Sweden Democrats

{{politics}}
The '''Sweden Democrats''' (Swedish: '''''Sverigedemokraterna''''') are a [[Swedish]] [[nationalism|nationalist]], anti-[[immigration]] party. In 2010, the party won 20 seats in the Swedish Parliament. In 2014, this increased to 49 seats. In 2018, this increased again to 63 seats, and the party became the third largest. In 2022 it became the second-largest party in Parliament, with 73 seats from a 20.6% vote share.<ref name=2022result>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62913356 Sweden election: How an ex neo-Nazi movement became kingmakers], BBC News, 15 September 2022</ref>

The party was founded in 1988 by Gustaf Ekström {{lived|1907|1995}} a Swedish [[SS]] volunteer in [[World War II]].<ref>{{wpa|Gustaf Ekström}}</ref> In contrast to many other western European similar anti-immigration parties, such as the Swedish forerunner ''Ny Demokrati'', the [[Danish People's Party]], the Norwegian [[Fremskrittspartiet]] and the Dutch [[Party for Freedom|Freedom Party]], which tend to have [[libertarianism|libertarian]] or [[conservatism|conservative]] roots, the Sweden Democrats have historical links to the Swedish [[Neo-Nazism|Neo-Nazi]] movement. Though the party officially denounces [[racism]], they are often accused of racism and [[Islamophobia]], and there have been a number of incidents where municipal SD politicians have had to resign following racist statements or other unacceptable actions.<ref>[http://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/hot-tommer-sd-stolar-i-kommunerna/ "Hot tömmer SD-stolar i kommunerna - DN.SE"], DN.SE, 2011-11-09 ''(in Swedish)''</ref> In 2015 the party disbanded the youth wing it then had, viewed as too toxic and [[extremist]], former members of which then went on to form the fringe far-right party [[Alternative for Sweden]] in 2018.

Until 2019, the other seven parties in the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) refused to cooperate or engage with the Sweden Democrats, despite SD growing to become the third largest party.<ref>[http://www.svt.se/nyheter/val2014/ideologisk-skillnad-stoppar-sd-samarbete "Ideologiska skillnader stoppar SD-samarbete"], svt.se, Örjan Magnusson, 2014-09-15 ''(in Swedish)''</ref><ref>[https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/5965660 "Will the Sweden Democrats stay isolated?"], sverigesradio.se, 2014-09-15</ref><ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sweden-election-poll/support-for-sweden-dems-slips-ahead-of-sept-9-election-poll-idUSKCN1L71K2 Support for Sweden Dems slips ahead of Sept 9 election: poll], Reuters, 2018-08-22</ref> The {{wpl|Moderates (Sweden)|Moderates}} and {{wpl|Christian Democrats (Sweden)|Christian Democrats}} opened up to cooperation first,<ref>[https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/7360839 "Moderaterna vill samarbeta med Sverigedemokraterna om politik"], sverigesradio.se, 2019-12-05 ''(in Swedish)''</ref><ref>[https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/ebba-busch-thor-kd-vi-bidrog-till-att-losa-upp-knuten-kring-sd "Ebba Busch Thor (KD): ”Beredda att förhandla med SD i alla frågor”"], svt.se, Amanda Skagerström Lindau, 2019-12-09 ''(in Swedish)''</ref><ref>[https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/starkare-samarbete-mellan-sd-kd-och-m/ "Starkare samarbete mellan SD, KD och M"], expressen.se, Max Sohl Stjernberg, 2020-12-28 ''(in Swedish)''</ref> joined by the centre-right {{wpl|Liberals (Sweden)|Liberals}} in 2021.<ref>[https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/41wxoG/sabunis-linje-vinner--l-oppnar-for-samarbete-med-sd "Sabunis linje vinner – L öppnar för samarbete med SD"], aftonbladet.se, Olof Svensson, 2021-03-28 ''(in Swedish)''</ref> Party leader Jimmie Åkesson hoped for his party to become part of a greater right-wing bloc in the Swedish Riksdag,<ref>[https://svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/jimmie-akesson-drommer-om-det-konservativa-blocket "Jimmie Åkesson drömmer om ”det konservativa blocket”"], svt.se, 2019-03-07 ''(in Swedish)''</ref> and this happened and such a bloc narrowly won in the 2022 election.<ref name=2022result /> The question of whether or not to cooperate with the SD party as a means to greater influence or even forming a government has been a divisive question, and in part continues to be for centrist parties in particular.

==Ideology==
{{Cquote|As a Sweden Democrat I see this [Islam and Muslims in Sweden] as our biggest foreign threat since World War II.|||Party leader Jimmie Åkesson|debating in 2009<ref name=anti-Islam2009>[https://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/a/VRx8zd/akesson-muslimerna-ar-vart-storsta-utlandska-hot “Muslimerna är vårt största utländska hot”], Aftonbladet, Jimmy Åkesson, October 19, 2009 ''(in Swedish)''</ref>}}
The party describes itself as nationalist, and, since 2011, [[social conservatism|socially conservative]]. Several opponents brand the party as racist, [[Islamophobic]], [[far right]] and [[populism|populist]]. The party also praises the [[social democracy|social democratic]] [[welfare state]] (which is old enough to be part of the general modern image of Sweden and "Swedishness").

The Sweden Democrats (SD) are to a large extent "[[cultural Christian]]s", but a moderate portion of their voters have been won over from the [[Christian democracy|Christian democratic]] party ({{wpl|Kristdemokraterna}}, KD), a conservative party more strongly associated with genuinely religious [[Christian]] voters.{{efn|The Christian Democrats went through a time of shrinking support around the time that the Sweden Democrats had its great growth spurt. Disgruntled elderly [[Christian]] voters who jumped ship from the Christian Democrats due to them not being ''sufficiently'' anti-immigration and anti-feminist found a new rallying cry with the emergence of the Sweden Democrats.}} The party<ref name=anti-Islam2009 /> and its voters are known in part for their anti-Islam sentiments.<ref>[https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-rise-of-sweden-democrats-and-the-end-of-swedish-exceptionalism/ "The Rise of Sweden Democrats: Islam, Populism and the End of Swedish Exceptionalism"], Brookings Institute, Danielle Lee Tomson, March 25, 2020</ref> The Sweden Democrats are more popular with men than with women, while it's the other way around for the {{wpl|Social Democrats (Sweden)|Social Democrats|.}}<ref>[https://novus.se/think-with-novus/blogg/skillnader-i-partisympati-beroende-pa-kon-och-alder/ "Skillnader i partisympati beroende på kön och ålder"], Novus.se ''(in Swedish)''</ref><ref>[https://www.scb.se/hitta-statistik/artiklar/2021/okande-gap-mellan-kvinnors-och-mans-partisympatier/ "Ökande gap mellan kvinnors och mäns partisympatier"], SCB 2021 ''(in Swedish)''</ref>

The Sweden Democrats previously wanted to restrict the rights to [[abortion]], an unusual position in Swedish politics, but changed their views in 2019.<ref>https://sd.se/our-politics/abort/</ref><ref>https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/samhalle/a/OpXnaV/akessons-drag--sa-ska-han-hindra-s-attackerna</ref> They also brand themselves as tough on [[crime]], desiring to promote entrapment, to withdraw executive pardoning, and other controversial enforcement techniques.

==Incidents==
{{More sources}}
Since its foundation in 1988, there have been several incidents involving high-ranked Sweden Democrats. Many of them have been brought to public attention since the party entered Parliament in autumn 2010.

One of the most infamous is the ''iron pipe scandal'', which happened in June 2010, surfacing in November 2012, where three top-level Sweden Democrats (two of them MP's when the scandal erupted) recorded themselves on video, brawling at [[McDonald's]] in central Stockholm using racist and sexist slurs against bystanders, later picking up 
iron
 aluminium pipes from a nearby scaffold.

May 2024, an undercover investigation by TV4 ''Kalla Fakta'' ('Hard Facts') aired, revealing systematic use of online "troll factory" activity by the Sweden Democrats.<ref name=tv4-video>{{Cite web |title=Kalla fakta: Undercover i trollfabriken |url=https://www.tv4play.se/program/cd339dace9a80bb132d9/kalla-fakta-undercover-i-trollfabriken |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=www.tv4play.se |language=sv}}</ref> A little bit like [[Putin]]'s [[Russia]]n government is known to do, except much smaller in scale. At least 23 anonymous social media accounts were ran by SD's communications department, spreading xenophobic, conspiratiorial, and other misleading messages as well as attacks on competing politicians (including those in their own coalition), often satirical in tone, and including [[deepfake]] videos.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Hellerud |first1=Emil |last2=Andersson |first2=Daniel |date=2024-06-05 |title=Here are SD's 23 troll accounts – controlled by the party |url=https://www.tv4.se/artikel/BprNBEXypm6isEuiIYKwA/here-are-sds-23-troll-accounts-controlled-by-the-party |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=[[TV4 (Swedish TV channel)|TV4]] |language=}}</ref><ref name=tv4-video /> The Sweden Democrats partly denied, partly toned down the scope of what they did, but corroborating evidence including a 12-year old plan to use such activity were revealed after.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stenquist |first=Victor |date=2024-05-17 |title=Interna mejlen avslöjar SD:s trollkonto-plan – för 12 år sen |trans-title=The internal emails reveal SD's troll-account-plan – 12 years ago |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/a/4Bq81E |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=[[Aftonbladet]] |language=sv}}</ref> For a while the political coalition seemed at risk,<ref>[https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/swedish-coalition-undermined-by-far-right-troll-farm-scandal/ Swedish coalition ‘undermined’ by far-right troll farm scandal], Charles Szumski (May 15, 2024) ''Euractiv''</ref> but after plenty of harsh words by other politicians against SD, while SD's leader Jimmie Åkesson dismissed the investigations as an "influence operation" targeting them, the drama fizzled out and the governing coalition persisted.

In early October 2024, the Sweden Democrats - particularly their leader Jimmie Åkesson - sparked a media storm when Robert Hedarv, the leader of the Swedish chapter of the MC Comanches motorcycle club, had attended Åkesson's wedding.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.politico.eu/article/sweden-far-right-leader-jimmie-akesson-gang-leader-at-wedding-robert-hedarv/|title=  Swedish far-right leader bids to throttle criticism of wedding invite to biker gang boss |last= Starcevic |first=Seb |date= October 8, 2024|website= Politico|access-date= October 16, 2024 |quote=The leader of Sweden’s biggest far-right party was forced to explain why he invited to his wedding a motorcycle club boss with links to organized crime. Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson married his wife last month in Sölvesborg, southern Sweden. Among the wedding guests was Robert Hedarv, leader of a branch of the Comanches motorcycle club, who Swedish authorities accused in 2015 of having links to organized crime.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.thelocal.se/20241010/why-was-there-a-gang-leader-at-sweden-democrat-leader-jimmie-akessons-wedding|title= Why was there a gang leader at Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson's wedding?|last= Waterton
Becky Waterton - |first=Becky |date= October 10, 2024 |website= The Local.se|access-date=October 16, 2024}}</ref> According to the Swedish Aftonbladet, a daily tabloid newspaper publication, Hedarv has quite a track record. Besides having been convicted of traffic offenses and financial crime, the {{wpl|Swedish Prison and Probation Service}} has stated that Hedarv has links to [[organized crime]].<ref>    {{cite web |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/bm7y1l/mc-presidenten-robert-hedarv-om-relationen-med-jimmie-akesson |title= Mc-presidenten om relationen till Åkesson: ”Var går gränsen för vänner egentligen?”|last=  Stenquist|first= Victor|date= October 7, 2024 |website= Aftonbladet|language= Swedish |access-date=October 16, 2024 |quote= (Translated from Swedish to English) In 2015, mc president Robert Hedarv was judged to have links to organized crime according to the Prison Service. At the same time, he was charged but acquitted of aiding and abetting serious financial crimes. He has also been convicted of traffic offenses and financial crime.}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|2}}
*[[Alternative for Sweden]] (a related, more extreme fringe party)
*[[Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white]]
*[[Counterjihad]]
*[[Eurabia]]
*[[Europhobia]]
*[[Euroscepticism]]
*[[Fatwa envy]]
*[[Islamophobia]]
*[[Neoreactionary movement]]
*[[White extinction scenario]]
{{div col end}}
==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:European political parties]]
[[Category:Far-right political parties]]
[[Category:Fascism]]
[[Category:Islamophobia]]
[[Category:Misnomers]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Sweden]]

Categories: European political parties, Far-right political parties, Fascism, Islamophobia, Misnomers, Racism, Sweden