Sweden’s governing parties have agreed to pause controversial deportations of teenage migrants, but the issue is expected to remain a key point of contention as the country heads toward elections.
Will Teen Deportations Become an Election Issue?
– Particularly the Sweden Democrats and the Centre Party, as well as the Green Party and the Left Party, likely have an interest in keeping this issue in the spotlight during the election campaign. This is because it simply and pedagogically illustrates that the Sweden Democrats’ long-term ideological goal is not only to reduce the number of people coming to Sweden, but likewise to expel those they do not consider Swedish citizens. Continuing this line, which can be described as ethnonationalist, is in the DNA of the Sweden Democrats, to show their core voters that they are the most hardline of all. But at the same time, they are now saying, in the short term, that some peculiarities in the system justify pausing the deportations until the election,” said Jonas Hinnfors, professor emeritus in political science.
He continued:
– Similarly, the Centre Party, the Green Party and the Left Party have an interest in showing the electorate that the long-term tightening of immigration policy is gradually leading to the realization of the Sweden Democrats’ ethnonationalist project, with the tacit approval – or naiveté – of the other parties. The Centre Party, the Green Party and the Left Party also have an interest in getting the Social Democrats to distance themselves from the strict immigration policy advocated by the Sweden Democrats.
The governing parties say they agree to halt the teen deportations, but how aligned are the parties overall when it comes to immigration policy?
– While the Liberals, the Christian Democrats and the Moderate Party primarily – with some variations between the parties – desire to reduce immigration, the Sweden Democrats primarily want to reduce the number of immigrants in Sweden. Beneath the surface, this highlights an ideological difference: the Sweden Democrats are an ethnonationalist party, while the others are different variants of liberal conservatism,” said Jonas Hinnfors.
How has the recent debate about the deportations affected the Sweden Democrats?
– Very little. The entire sequence of events clearly illustrates that when traditional center-right parties struggle to form a government without cooperating with parties like the Sweden Democrats, those traditional parties will adapt their policies to align with the priorities of those other parties, which almost always concerns immigration policy. So far, the Liberals, the Christian Democrats and the Moderate Party have been very compliant with the Sweden Democrats. But when the Sweden Democrats saw that the media debate surrounding bizarre aspects of the current regulations was indefensible, the party took a small step back. For the time being. It was only then that the governing parties did the same, but that wasn’t a statement of opposition to the Sweden Democrats.
Jonas Hinnfors continued:
– The governing parties have been guided by the Sweden Democrats for a long time. What will be interesting now is to what extent they want or dare to maintain the line of sticking to reduced immigration, but not targeting immigrants who are already here.
