https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/digitalisation-excludes-elderly-people/

Sweden

Digitalisation excludes elderly people

Published 18 March 2023

– By Editorial Staff

Photo: Huy Phan/Pexels

The more digitalized a society becomes, the greater the risk of older people being excluded from different parts of the welfare system. This is according to a new thesis at Örebro University that compares the situation for the elderly in Sweden with Greece.

In a new thesis, Sofia Alexopoulou, researcher in political science, has analyzed and compared how the rapid technological development affects the elderly population in Sweden compared to Greece. The thesis is a compilation of articles and consists of two qualitative case studies, a comparative study and a literature review where older people from both countries were also interviewed.

The “grey digital divide” refers to the fact that older people have difficulty keeping up with technological developments, which becomes a serious problem for both the individual and society, says Alexopoulou.

– In Sweden, bank ID is a clear example of how digital technology can be exclusionary. Not having a bank ID is like being a ghost that prevents you from participating in society on equal terms, she says in a commentary at Örebro University published by forskning.se.

One negative consequence is that older people are often unable to benefit from the welfare services that are available, as they are unable to apply the technology that these require.

In Sweden, digital assistance is provided by the family, although the municipalities have the main responsibility for elderly care. At the same time, many older people are more reluctant to ask family members for help in Sweden than in Greece, where people are more confident in asking their families for help. Alexopoulou suggests that one step forward in Sweden would be for younger people to share their digital skills with older people.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/gang-leader-expands-influence-in-sweden-from-abroad/

Sweden

Gang leader expands influence in Sweden – from abroad

Published yesterday 16:03

– By Editorial Staff

Montage. Photo: Police, iStock/image focus

The gang leader Rawa Majid, who is considered the leader of the criminal organization Foxtrot, is expected to once again strengthen his power in Swedish gang crime. According to reports, arms contacts are a core part of his position of power.

Majid has been deemed to be behind a large number of shootings and explosions in Sweden and since 2020 the gang leader has been internationally wanted for serious drug offenses and preparation for murder.

In October 2023, he was arrested in Iran, but in May the following year, the Israeli intelligence service stated that the Swedish crime network Foxtrot and its leader Rawa Majid are now working for Iran, something that the Bonnier newspaper DN reported on with reference to documents they had access to.

At the same time, Majid is once again strengthening his power in Sweden from abroad via Foxtrot, according to sources to the Schibsted newspaper SvD.

– Foxtrot is gaining ground all the time. We see it in signals intelligence, in the conversations between those involved and in the weapons used, the source says.

According to the newspaper, one of Majid’s many factors for success in his criminal activities is contacts for arms smuggling from Bosnia to Sweden.

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedens-train-punctuality-drops-to-lowest-point-since-2010/

Sweden

Sweden’s train punctuality drops to lowest point since 2010

Published yesterday 9:46

– By Editorial Staff

Photo: Jin Zan/CC0 1.0

Öresund train in Malmö.

In 2024, 87.2% of Swedish trains were on time – which in practice means that they arrived at their final destination less than six minutes behind schedule.

This is the worst figure since 2010, and the delays are partly due to maintenance work, but also to a large number of incidents involving unauthorized persons on the tracks.

– I want to emphasize that improving punctuality is not a quick fix, and that we continue to face a major challenge in balancing the sharp increase in traffic with a historically large investment in the maintenance of tracks, switches and overhead lines, says Anna Ericsson, head of the Traffic Operations Division, in a press release.

– Another major challenge is the issue of safety, partly linked to how we ensure a safe working environment for those who will carry out all the work in the track system – and partly to the issue of unauthorized persons on the tracks. In December, almost two thousand passenger trains were delayed due to unauthorized persons on the tracks, and there were 17 collisions, she continues.

Last year, a total of 1 065 954 trains departed in Sweden – which means that traffic volumes have increased by almost 40% since 2010.

“Situations no one should have to experience”

– We’ll have to wait until all the figures have been double-checked and analyzed, but there are many indications that we have never before had such a high impact on traffic due to unauthorized persons on tracks as in 2024, Ericsson explains.

– Thankfully, not all incidents where warning signals are ignored lead to accidents – but every day drivers are exposed to situations no one should have to experience at work, If I have one wish for 2025, it’s that we find ways to reverse that trend, because every accident is one too many.

She urges the public to remind each other never to cross railroad tracks, slip under downed barriers, or climb on wagons.

– Rail is safe, but as trains are both silent and heavy and can neither stop nor give way, awareness of the risks that do exist needs to be raised.

Editorial Staff
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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/sweden-democrats-leader-stands-firm-on-loyalty-pledge-for-new-citizens/

Sweden

Sweden Democrats leader stands firm on loyalty pledge for new citizens

Published 16 January 2025

– By Editorial Staff

Photo: Henrik Nyström/Government Offices of Sweden

The leader of the Sweden Democrats believes that it is up to the parties in the government platform to agree on the issue.

Government investigators have rejected the Sweden Democrats’ proposal that new Swedish citizens should make a declaration of loyalty to the nation, but party leader Jimmie Åkesson intends to continue to push the demand.

– The fact that individual investigators disagree cannot be taken into account to any great extent, he emphasizes.

According to Åkesson, this is a political issue to be negotiated between the parties in the government – and that the investigator’s own opinion is therefore also of minor importance.

– To investigate something in political language means that you want to implement something. I find it incredibly difficult to understand the Swedish investigative or legislative system where political power is given to individuals to say ‘this seems good and this doesn’t seem good’, even though we have had general elections where voters have expressed their views.

Nor does he think it should matter that the opposition, led by the Social Democrats, does not think it necessary for new citizens to declare their loyalty to Sweden.

– Because the issue is so important, the Social Democrats cannot be given a veto. If there is a majority in the Riksdag (Swedish parliament), it is important that we go forward with the proposals that we agree on.

“I think it is reasonable”

Exactly what the declaration of loyalty would look like in practice is unclear, and Åkesson says that it is not his job as an individual politician to formulate it in detail.

– I think it’s reasonable that if you come to Sweden and become a citizen here after a period of time in the country, you have to meet certain requirements, in terms of livelihood, adaptation and other things. But also that they declare that they intend to be loyal to Sweden. This is incredibly important, especially given the current security situation.

Last year, another Swedish politician, Christian Democrat MEP Alice Teodorescu Måwe, demanded that anyone wishing to become a Swedish citizen must also first sign some form of declaration of loyalty, in this case not to Sweden but to the State of Israel.

“In order to even obtain Swedish citizenship, it should be required, as in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, that those who wish to become Swedish citizens also recognize the right of the state of Israel to exist and, in addition, intend to embrace the Judeo-Christian values on which Swedish democracy rests”, she argued at the time.

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/sweden-begins-construction-on-first-ever-final-nuclear-waste-repository/

Sweden

Sweden begins construction on first-ever final nuclear waste repository

Published 16 January 2025

– By Editorial Staff

Photo: Vattenfall/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The construction itself is estimated to cost around €1 billion.

Yesterday, construction began on Sweden’s first final repository for spent nuclear fuel at the Forsmark nuclear power plant in Östhammar municipality. The facility, which will be one of the first of its kind globally, will store nuclear fuel waste for up to 100,000 years.

Minister for Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari (L) attended the groundbreaking ceremony and described the event as “historic” and emphasized the importance of the project for both Sweden and the world:

– A very important milestone. Not only for Sweden and in our nuclear history but also to set the image for the rest of the world, that we have actually researched this method and now started to apply it as well.

Sweden currently has six active nuclear reactors that together produce between 90 and 150 tons of spent nuclear fuel annually. This waste is currently stored in Oskarshamn, but will eventually be moved to the final repository in Forsmark. When the repository is sealed in 2090, it is estimated to hold about 12,000 tons of nuclear fuel waste, encapsulated in copper and surrounded by bentonite clay, placed 500 meters below the ground surface.

However, the Environmental NGOs’ Nuclear Waste Review (MKG) expresses some concern about the chosen method of copper encapsulation and the uncertainty of future nuclear technologies.

– We don’t know what the reactors of the future will look like and this may possibly lead to different conditions for how the waste needs to be disposed of, points out Linda Birkedal, chair of MKG.

“Safe method”

The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB), which is responsible for the project, assures that the method is not associated with any risks.

– We have a safe method. But on the other hand, there is currently no plan for what new types of facilities will be built, SKB’s head of communications Anna Porelius told state television SVT.

If the government’s plans to expand nuclear power are realized, additional final storage capacity may be necessary. Carl Berglöf, nuclear power coordinator, says that an expansion of the existing final repository in Forsmark would be most cost-effective, but that legal obstacles may make it necessary to consider new sites. The issue will be further investigated in 2025.

The construction of the final repository in Forsmark, led by SKB, is estimated to cost SEK 12 billion (€1 billion). The total cost of Sweden’s nuclear waste program is estimated at around SEK 171 billion (€15 billion).

Editorial Staff
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Polaris of Enlightenment

Polaris of Enlightenment