The Nordic Times

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The Nordic Times

Polaris of Enlightenment

The Nordic Times

The Nordic Times

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/scandinavian-christmas-celebrations-here-are-the-countries-favorites/

The Nordics

Scandinavian Christmas celebrations: Here are the countries’ favorites

Published December 21, 2024 – By Editorial staff
The Swedes love Christmas traditions.
1 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Danes, Swedes and Norwegians have different favorites when it comes to Christmas celebrations, according to a Norstat survey. While Danes prefer to cozy up indoors, Swedes hold on to their Christmas traditions.

A number of European countries participated in the survey, with around 1,000 people from each country naming their three favorite Christmas traditions. The survey was conducted between November 11 and 22 this year.

In Norway, 52 percent believe that Christmas dinner is the best part of the holiday season. Following that, Norwegians most appreciate Christmas traditions and the festive atmosphere.

About 35 percent of Swedes believe that Christmas traditions are the most important part of the holiday, followed by 33 percent who look forward to the Christmas dinner the most. In third place is the festive atmosphere, according to the survey.

In Denmark, 70 percent believe that the best part of Christmas is staying indoors and enjoying cozy time with family. In comparison, only 22 percent of Norwegians consider this the most important aspect, while the figure is 27 percent among Swedes.

The Danes rank the festive atmosphere as the second most important, followed by traditions in third place.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/norway/more-children-born-in-norway-for-second-consecutive-year/

Norway

More children born in Norway for second consecutive year

Published today 1:42 pm – By Editorial staff
1 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Birth rates in Norway are rising for the second consecutive year after reaching a historic low in 2022, according to new statistics from the Medical Birth Registry. Despite the increase, too few children are still being born.

Last year, 54,472 children were born in Norway, representing an increase of 3.6 percent compared to the previous year. This stands in stark contrast to 2022, when the country had the lowest number of births in many decades.

— Whether this is a trend, we are uncertain, but more children are being born now than in previous years, says senior physician Liv Cecilie Vestrheim Thomsen at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) to Norwegian state broadcaster NRK.

Larger birth cohorts reaching parenting age

Thomsen points to a demographic explanation. Around 40 years ago, birth cohorts in Norway were small, but those born in the late 1980s and into the 1990s were significantly larger. It is this generation that is now at the age when many choose to start families.

— It may be that they have now decided to have children, says Thomsen.

Despite the increase, only 1.44 children are born per woman in Norway. For the population to replace itself, approximately 2.1 children per woman are required. The average age for first-time mothers is now almost 32 years.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-prison-service-opposes-plan-to-lower-criminal-age-to-13/

Sweden

Swedish Prison Service opposes plan to lower criminal age to 13

Published today 10:22 am – By Editorial staff
2 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The Swedish government's proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 13 is facing strong criticism. In its consultation response, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården) states that it is not equipped to receive such young children in prison and that they should be cared for in other ways.

By July 1 next year, the Swedish Prison and Probation Service is expected to have built prison units for children where both 15–17-year-olds and 13–14-year-olds convicted of serious crimes will serve sentences. At the same time, places at the special youth homes (SiS homes, state-run institutions for youth care) will be phased out.

In the consultation response, the Prison and Probation Service writes that imprisonment at a young age can lead to negative consequences, and that children "as young as 13 should be cared for in other ways".

— These concerns become more significant the younger the children in question are, says Elisabeth Lager, acting legal director, to TT.

The Prison and Probation Service is clear that the organization does not have the required resources. It lacks both the expertise and suitable facilities to handle children as young as 13 within prisons, detention centers, or community-based sanctions such as probation. Practical issues such as education must also be addressed. At the same time, it is noted that the level of the age of criminal responsibility is ultimately a political matter.

Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer writes that the government will "carefully analyze all consultation responses". He emphasizes that society must "care for children in a completely different way than today" in cases of the most serious crimes, both to protect victims and society, but also the children themselves.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/finland/finlands-former-president-europe-should-speak-directly-with-putin/

Finland

Finland’s former president: Europe should speak directly with Putin

Published yesterday 12:22 pm – By Editorial staff
Finnish former President Sauli Niinistö believes that Europe must remain European.
2 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Finland's former president Sauli Niinistö believes that European leaders should engage in direct talks with Moscow instead of relying solely on information from Donald Trump. He also warns that Europe is losing its role as a global power.

Niinistö criticizes the current situation where European countries lack direct contact with Russian leaders, while US President Donald Trump negotiates with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Ukraine's future. Niinistö argues that Europe should instead initiate direct talks with Russia to influence the outcome of the war.

— French President Emmanuel Macron is likely the last one to have called, and before that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about a year ago. And he was criticized for it, Niinistö told Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

He defended Scholz's decision to contact the Kremlin and describes the current situation as absurd.

— I defended him and still think that it is in a way an absurd situation that Europeans say they won't talk to the war criminal Putin. But Trump does it, and then we go and hear what they talked about, he explained.

Niinistö points out the paradox that Europeans are simultaneously worried that Putin and Trump will discuss Europe's future over the heads of the European countries themselves.

Europe has lost its global position

Furthermore, Niinistö notes that Europe's significance has decreased markedly during the 21st century. Today, it is primarily the US, China, and Russia that make the decisive decisions on the global stage.

When Finland joined the EU in the 1990s, the union was a voice that the world listened to. The situation was similar even after the turn of the millennium. Now, however, Europe has disappeared from the power quadrangle, according to Niinistö. He particularly points to how the US and China compete economically and divide the world between them in what he describes as a struggle for nations' loyalty.

— Europe must keep Europe European and must absolutely not submit to becoming an object of division, so that someone belongs to one camp and someone else to another, he says.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/syrian-man-convicted-of-rape-remains-in-sweden-six-years-after-deportation-order/

Sweden

Syrian man convicted of rape remains in Sweden six years after deportation order

Migrant violence

Published November 10, 2025 – By Editorial staff
The tent at the Emmaboda Festival 2017 where the Syrian migrant Noraldin Alhamamy, now known as "Emil Jordensson," raped a 15-year-old girl.---**Context note:** Emmaboda Festival is a music festival held in Emmaboda, a small town in southern Sweden. The case refers to a criminal incident that occurred at the festival in 2017.
2 minute read
Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

A migrant who was sentenced to deportation for aggravated rape of a 15-year-old girl at a music festival in 2017 is still in Sweden. During this time, the 30-year-old has committed new crimes and ran as a candidate in the Swedish church elections this summer. Now Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell calls the situation "sick" and promises legislative changes.

The 30-year-old Syrian citizen Noraldin Alhamamy came to Sweden in 2015 and received a permanent residence permit in the fall of 2016. Just six days before that decision, he was convicted of his first crime in the country: sexual molestation, reports Fria Tider.

In the summer of 2017, he committed the crime that would lead to deportation. At the Emmaboda Festival in southern Sweden, he raped a 15-year-old girl in her tent. He threatened her with a knife and covered her mouth during the assault. The girl developed post-traumatic stress disorder and has described how she lives in constant fear and anxiety.

— He has destroyed my life, the girl said during the trial.

The man, who now goes by the name Emil Jordensson, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison and deportation with a ten-year entry ban. However, the deportation has not been carried out because he has claimed several obstacles to enforcement.

Claimed conversion and military service

First, he claimed that he risked being called up for military service in the Syrian army. Later, he claimed that he had converted to Christianity, which he argued would put him in danger in his home country. His case has been heard in the Migration Court of Appeal and has become precedent-setting for other courts. Despite being denied refugee status due to the severity of his crime, he remains in Sweden more than six years after the verdict.

During this time, he has committed additional crimes. Last year, he was convicted of aggravated assault against a public official after making a revenge visit to a police officer who had arrested him, as well as for assaulting his wife, car theft, and harassment. The crimes were deemed to have been committed during a psychosis and he was sentenced to probation with supervision.

This summer, it was revealed in the regional newspaper Smålandsposten that the man was running as a candidate in the Church elections, which was possible because he is registered in the Swedish population register. He withdrew his candidacy after the revelation.

New legislation planned

— It is of course sick. It is completely unacceptable, says Migration Minister Johan Forssell to the Bonnier newspaper Expressen.

The government will propose a new law called "tolerated stay" to handle people in this situation. They will then not receive temporary residence permits, be prohibited from leaving a certain area, have reporting obligations, and not be able to access Swedish welfare or register in the population register.

The man has been in detention since September after the Swedish Migration Agency decided that he cannot be held in regular detention due to his criminal record.

Editorial staff
editorial@nordictimes.com