Denice Westerberg, the newly appointed leader of Young Swedes, the youth wing of the Sweden Democrats, is clear that more migrants must be deported – even if they have already been granted Swedish citizenship.
She also has high expectations for the 2026 elections and believes that Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson could become Sweden’s next prime minister.
In October, then Young Swedes leader, Emil Eneblad, resigned and was replaced by Denice Westerberg – best known as the host of the YouTube channel Riks.
Internally, she is now seen as a rising star, and when an SD conference was held in Norrköping this weekend, she was one of the main speakers.
– It is also our role as a youth organization to push opinions, to push the debate, to push our own party and the Tidö parties and to make sure that things happen. So I see no problem with a harsher tone in the debates. I think we need to discuss politics more, especially among young people, she says in an interview with the tabloid Aftonbladet.
Nearly ten years ago, the Sweden Democrats disbanded their former youth league (Sverigedemokratisk Ungdom – SDU) after several heated conflicts and disagreements over various issues, and the breakaway members formed Alternative for Sweden (AfS) instead. The new youth organization is considered to be much more “loyal” to the parent party and essentially follows its line on various issues.
“Must start getting people out”
Whereas AfS regards Swedes as an ethnic group, and believes that a large number of non-European migrants must be deported regardless of whether they have adapted to Swedish society or not, SD and its youth alliance instead believe that Swedishness is “open” or cultural and that migrants who “behave” can also be absorbed into the Swedish community regardless of their origin.
– We have a very good relationship with the party and we can influence the party more than I think many other youth associations can do with their parties, Westerberg says.
One issue that she considers particularly important is that more migrants should be persuaded to leave Sweden – either voluntarily or through coercive means, and she emphasizes that repatriation must take place on a large scale.
– We are sending out the signals that you either assimilate to Sweden or don’t live in Sweden. We have to stop more people coming to Sweden, but we also have to start getting people out. Voluntary repatriation is a good part of this, but we must also start to implement deportations and agreements with countries. That we can start deporting people who previously could not be deported.
– All steps towards getting more people to return and more people to be deported are steps in the right direction, she clarifies.
Translation of the above tweet:
Why are people who claim to have fled war and oppression in the Middle East and Africa allowed to keep their Swedish passports when they go back on vacation without a care in the world?
“Handed out an awful lot of citizenships”
For migrants who do not behave, the youth chairman wants to “cut the passport” and believes that this should be standard, partly if they have not managed to adapt to Swedish society, but also if it turns out that they did not really have reasons for protection to begin with.
– One of the reasons may be that they do not know the language. Or if you come to Sweden and have fled here and then a few years later vacation in your home country. Then I think you have used up your chances of being in Sweden. Then you might as well move back there completely.
Migrants who have been granted Swedish citizenship should also be deported on a large scale – because, according to Westerberg, citizenship has simply been granted far too freely and without any major requirements or controls.
– Yes, because we have handed out so many citizenships to people without even looking twice at it. If someone has Swedish citizenship but then frequently travels back to their home country and vacations, then we should look at whether this person should really have Swedish citizenship or whether we have given it out on the wrong grounds?
Believes in Åkesson as prime minister
She is not entirely satisfied with the role of the Sweden Democrats in the Tidö agreement (a political cooperation pact between four right-wing parties in Sweden) either, and especially not with the limited influence they have had within it. Ahead of the election in two years’ time, she hopes that the SD will be the largest party in a government constellation and that Jimmie Åkesson will then also become Swedish prime minister.
– Of course Jimmie Åkesson should be prime minister… In my world, there is not another Tidö agreement, she explains.
Several other SD representatives have also announced that they do not see it as an option to support the Moderates after the next election, and that they expect to be in the government in 2026 – or in opposition to it. Currently, the SD has around 40% of voter support among the Tidö parties, but has still only managed to get very limited parts of its policies through, which has also frustrated voters and supporters.
