Saturday, September 6, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Swedish government: Unprecedented economic turbulence ahead

Published 15 April 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Elisabeth Svantesson during Tuesday's press conference.
2 minute read

Elisabeth Svantesson, the Moderate Party’s Minister for Finance, believes that Trump’s trade tariffs and the unrest they have caused will also affect the Swedish economy.

– We had good conditions for getting the economy going. But then this happened, which we’ve talked about a lot – the trade war has materialized, she emphasizes.

According to Svantesson, the Swedish economy was recovering at the end of 2024 but this recovery has now been interrupted, and the Americans are being blamed.

The finance minister says that confidence in the US has been badly damaged and will take a long time to rebuild and that the Trump administration’s actions have damaged both the US and European economies.

It is sad that one of Sweden’s partners, the United States, is acting in this way, she said:

– What we are experiencing now is unprecedented. We have a trade war at a time when markets are highly integrated.

“Higher costs for businesses and households”

Although the finance minister admits that the consequences of the trade war are difficult to determine in advance, she nevertheless maintains that Sweden remains strong “with world-class public finances” and the focus of the spring budget, according to Svantesson, is on getting “the wheels turning” through various economic measures such as increased tax deductions and increased funding for the Swedish Public Employment Service.

We don’t know all the consequences of the trade war yet, but we know that it is harmful… But with this budget we are protecting Sweden, and we are prepared to do more, she adds.

Despite the SEK 11.5 billion (€1 billion) in measures, unemployment is predicted to rise from 8.2% today to 8.6% by the end of the year, and inflation to 2.5%, from 1.9% previously.

The Ministry of Finance expects Sweden’s GDP to grow by 2.1% in 2025 lower than previous estimates. However, growth is expected to pick up in 2026 and 2027, according to the forecast, which may be revised in the future.

The announcement of increased import tariffs in the United States has caused turbulence in financial markets and sharp stock market declines. Higher tariffs are expected to lead to higher costs for businesses and households, which is expected to dampen demand. At the same time, increased uncertainty itself risks dampening economic activity as firms and households postpone investments, hiring and purchases”, the assessment says.

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Children tricked into sending nude photos – then extorted for money

Deteriorating safety

Published today 11:09
– By Editorial Staff
The police emphasize that parents must not blame the victimized children.
2 minute read

Last year, sexual extortion against children increased by 192 percent globally. Perpetrators manipulate children into sending nude photos of themselves and then demand money to prevent them from being distributed.

Sexual extortion of children for financial gain, known as sextortion, is increasing dramatically both in Sweden and worldwide. According to the American organization National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), reports of adults seeking contact with children online increased by a full 192 percent last year.

It is particularly teenage boys who are affected by this type of crime, which differs from other sexual crimes through its clear financial motive.

Louise Åhlén, development officer at the Swedish police unit Isöb Noa, which works with internet-related sexual crimes against children, describes the perpetrators’ methods:

— A common approach is that the perpetrator pretends to be a peer and tricks them into sending nude photos or videos. Then they threaten to distribute the image to family and friends if the child doesn’t send money to the perpetrator, she says.

“The children have done nothing wrong”

The Swedish police emphasize that how parents react if their child is affected is crucial. Louise Åhlén warns against reacting with anger or punishment:

— The absolutely most important thing is that we as parents don’t get angry at our children for having sent a nude photo or paid to avoid having them distributed. When we at the police find a child we believe has been victimized, the affected children often don’t want to tell anyone because they feel so much guilt and shame. But the children have done nothing wrong, they must receive understanding and support from the adult world, Åhlén explains.

Because the subject is so guilt-ridden and frightening for children who are affected, the number of unreported cases is probably very large. The police urge adults to talk with children both to prevent and to help those who have already been victimized.

— Ask and be curious about what’s happening in the child’s life, both what occurs online and offline, and don’t punish the child by removing apps or the phone if they’ve been victimized.

The Swedish police emphasize that children and young people’s online lives are a natural part of their everyday life that cannot or should not be prohibited.

— Children and young people socialize online. They chat and play together, it’s an important part of children’s everyday life today. We can’t protect children by forbidding them from using specific apps or games – it’s knowledge, presence and understanding that’s needed, Åhlén concludes.

Swedish politicians refused to receive migrants – face prosecution

Migration crisis in Europe

Published yesterday 13:21
– By Editorial Staff
The chairman of the municipal council, Christian Sonesson of the Moderate Party, is one of those charged.
2 minute read

Six municipal politicians in Staffanstorp, a town in southern Sweden’s Skåne region, are being prosecuted for gross misconduct in office after the municipal board decided in 2022 not to receive a Syrian family assigned there by the Swedish Migration Agency.

Among those prosecuted is Christian Sonesson (M), chairman of the municipal council from the Moderate Party, who has previously commented on Facebook about the interrogations in the case.

“From a purely legal standpoint, we currently know nothing more than that all members have the right to a public defender”.

In March 2022, the Swedish Migration Agency assigned four quota refugees – a Syrian family – to Staffanstorp municipality according to the Settlement Act. A few days later, the municipal board, following a proposal from the chairman, decided on an immediate halt to reception, reports Bonnier newspaper Expressen.

When the family arrived at Sturup airport on May 12, no one from the municipality was present to receive them, and the Migration Agency was forced to cancel the assignment at the last minute and instead place the family in another municipality.

“Uncharted territory”

Chief prosecutor Magdalena Petersson argues that the local politicians’ decision violates the law since Swedish municipalities are obligated to follow the Migration Agency’s assignments, which cannot be appealed.

— A municipality is obligated to receive a newly arrived person after assignment. The proposal from the chairman and the municipal board’s decision violates the Settlement Act. I have therefore brought charges against six people on the municipal board who participated in the vote without reserving themselves. The crime is to be assessed as gross because the defendants have seriously abused their position as municipal politicians. It has also had consequences for both individuals and the public, she argues in a press release.

All six defendants deny wrongdoing.

— This is uncharted territory, we need to establish precedent about what applies. As far as I know, there are no previous judgments in this area, the chief prosecutor notes.

Staffanstorp under Christian Sonesson has positioned itself as one of Sweden’s most restrictive municipalities on migration issues and has repeatedly attracted national attention for its decisions. The municipality’s stance has led to friction with the Moderate Party’s significantly more immigration-liberal party leadership, which has distanced itself from the southern Swedish local politicians on several occasions.

Malmö schools to block social media

Published 3 September 2025
– By Editorial Staff
As mobile restrictions have been implemented, students have started browsing social media using school computers instead.
1 minute read

Social media will be blocked on all school computers in elementary schools in Malmö, Sweden. The implementation is a pilot project to see if it counteracts harassment in schools and provides increased study peace.

It began when a special education teacher raised alarm about students’ use of social media during class time, where she emailed some concrete suggestions to the city of Malmö. This then led to an investigation into students’ digital work environment with a focus on social media.

Now the city of Malmö has decided to block social media on students’ school computers. The platforms being blocked are Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Google Chat, Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Roblox, Discord and Threads. The blocking applies both during and after school hours.

Most schools today have introduced some form of mobile phone restrictions. But young people are very resourceful and find new ways, so they have replaced phones with computer, says Malmö’s education commissioner Sara Wettergren from the Liberal Party to the Bonnier publication DN.

During the investigation, teachers were positive about the blocking, but not all students were completely satisfied. However, they now hope for more study peace in schools and also that it could lead to fewer instances of harassment.

The pilot project will run throughout the 2025/2026 school year and will then be evaluated.

Swedish preschool chain extracts millions – children get less butter

Welfare collapse

Published 2 September 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Tax funds finance preschool – butter is portioned out in the smallest possible amounts.
2 minute read

The Swedish preschool company Hagvidson has extracted millions in profits in recent years. Meanwhile, the company is rationing butter and sandwich toppings for preschool children.

Hagvidson currently owns over 21 preschools across Sweden, including facilities in Falun, Stockholm, and Uppsala. The preschool company has grown significantly in recent years and has purchased ten new preschools during this period. During the same timeframe, the owners – three men from the Örebro region in central Sweden – have extracted €6 million in dividend payments.

The men have taken director fees and salaries totaling around €900,000, which is primarily based on tax funds and municipal preschool funding.

Despite the million-euro profits, the company is strict about imposing restrictions on the children, according to an investigation by the Schibsted newspaper Aftonbladet. The restrictions primarily concern children eating too much sandwich toppings, but also include limits on paper towel usage for both staff and children.

We need to think about how much butter we put on the sandwiches and the amount of toppings – more is being used than usual right now. If we want to keep using Bregott (a popular Swedish butter-margarine blend), we need to be mindful of this”, states a protocol sent to employees, which the newspaper obtained.

Half a cheese slice

One solution from the preschool company is for adults at the table to portion out the butter to ensure children don’t take too much from the package themselves. Furthermore, only one topping per sandwich is allowed, something that employees at one of the preschools also confirm.

The children get half a cheese slice or half a thin slice of turkey on their sandwich and eat a maximum of two slices of bread – one soft and one hard per day – yet this still seems to be too much, the educator tells Aftonbladet.

Hagvidson’s CEO Michael Enghag declined an interview regarding the children’s restrictions on sandwich toppings, citing the company’s “communication policy”.

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