Thursday, September 4, 2025
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Thursday, September 4, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/israel-sweden-democrats-must-apologise-for-the-holocaust/

Sweden

Israel: Sweden Democrats must apologise for the Holocaust

Published 12 November 2024
– By Editorial Staff
The picture shows SD's Alexander Christiansson kneeling in front of laughing Jewish settlers in May this year. On the right is Israel's ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman.
3 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Israel is now demanding that the Sweden Democrats (SD) apologise for the party’s ‘historical links to anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial’.

The demand was made by Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, who believes that such an apology is an important gesture to promote reconciliation and a prerequisite for a more open dialogue between the Sweden Democrats and the Jewish state.

In an interview with Schibsted-owned Aftonbladet’s political editor Anders Lindberg, Israel’s ambassador Kulman clarifies that Tel Aviv’s official stance on the Sweden Democrats remains unchanged: the Israeli government will have no cooperation whatsoever with the anti-immigration Swedish party.

In the interview, the ambassador says that while the Sweden Democrats have repeatedly shown their support for Israel on issues related to the Middle East conflict, concerns remain about the party’s background.

According to Kulman, an official apology from the SD would show “a willingness to acknowledge historical mistakes”.

– Our policy towards far-right parties with Nazi roots has not changed, he says.

The Sweden Democrats have long worked to distance themselves from their alleged anti-Semitic history, and the party now has a number of representatives who are very vocal in their support for Israel and the Jewish diaspora at every opportunity.

This was particularly evident in May 2024, when the party’s Alexander Christiansson knelt down in front of a group of Jewish settlers at the annual Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast event.

“Must fight antisemitism”

The Israeli side stresses that its relations with the SD will remain reserved until an apology and concrete measures are taken.

– But (the SD) definitely needs to do a lot of soul-searching about its own past. They need to apologise for everything they did, to the victims of the Holocaust and to the memory of the Holocaust, and they definitely need to think about a future where they do more to fight anti-Semitism. It’s a long process, says Kulman.

Israel’s demands have provoked reactions in Swedish politics, not least from representatives of the Sweden Democrats themselves. The party’s MP, Josef Fransson, was highly critical in a post on X.

English translation of above tweet: But what is this nonsense? Is it the SD as a legal entity that should apologise for what a minority of members thought or did 30 years ago? Because if it is the legal entity that should apologise, it might be worth pointing out that there never was one…

Several opinion leaders have raised the question of whether a modern political party should have to answer for its history when the party has explicitly distanced itself from past positions and is actively working for a different agenda today.

The leadership of the Sweden Democrats has not yet responded directly to this demand, but the party has on several occasions emphasised its support for Israel and its wars in the region.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/malmo-schools-to-block-social-media/

Sweden

Malmö schools to block social media

Published yesterday 11:55
– By Editorial Staff
As mobile restrictions have been implemented, students have started browsing social media using school computers instead.
1 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-preschool-chain-extracts-millions-children-get-less-butter/

Sweden

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
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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”.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/number-of-prisoners-in-sweden-has-doubled-in-ten-years/

Sweden

Number of prisoners in Sweden has doubled in ten years

Published 29 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
1 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The number of inmates in Swedish correctional facilities has nearly doubled in the past ten years, according to statistics from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). The number of new admissions has also been the highest in almost 30 years.

At the end of 2024, the total number of people in correctional facilities was 8,206 people, 593 women and 7,613 men. This is referred to as having an ongoing prison sentence execution. This represents an increase of 17 percent compared to the previous year. Compared to 2015, the figure has increased by 91 percent.

The number of new admissions, that is, those who have begun serving a prison sentence, has reached a record high of 11,812 people, which is the highest figure in 28 years.

— The increase in the number of inmates in correctional facilities since 2017 is primarily explained by the harsher penalties for serious crimes that have been implemented in recent years, says Charlotta Lindström, statistician at the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, in a press release.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-consumer-authority-wants-to-ban-all-telemarketing/

Sweden

Swedish consumer authority wants to ban all telemarketing

Published 28 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Eight out of ten Swedes actively try to avoid telemarketing calls in various ways, according to a report by the Swedish Consumer Agency.
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

The Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) is proposing a general ban on all telemarketing in Sweden. Six out of ten Swedes no longer answer calls from unknown numbers due to fear of salespeople, causing people to miss important calls from healthcare services and police.

In the report “Telemarketing – an unwanted, inappropriate and deeply problematic business method” submitted to the Swedish government today, the Consumer Agency proposes that all telemarketing should be banned.

As a second alternative, the agency suggests replacing the current Nix registry (Sweden’s do-not-call list) with an opt-in system, where sales calls would only be allowed to consumers who have actively consented to being contacted.

— Telemarketing deprives the consumer of initiative and control over both what should be purchased and when it should happen. The consumer is taken by surprise and unprepared meets an eager salesperson who usually only has a single product to sell, says Cecilia Tisell, consumer ombudsman and director-general of the Swedish Consumer Agency.

The authority’s investigation shows that eight out of ten Swedes avoid calls from telemarketers in various ways. A clear majority do not answer calls from unknown numbers at all, which has serious consequences.

— What are the consequences when we no longer answer the phone out of concern that it’s telemarketers or scammers calling? We see in the survey that people miss important calls from, for example, healthcare services and the police. This is unfortunate for the individual and causes various societal actors much additional work, explains Tisell.

Contributes to debt problems

Complaints to the Swedish Consumer Agency about misleading and aggressive marketing are significantly higher for telemarketing than for other sales methods. Particularly vulnerable are consumers with disabilities and immigrants who do not speak Swedish properly.

A recurring problem is that consumers and companies often disagree about whether any purchase has actually taken place. While consumers claim they only said yes to information or free offers, companies quickly demand payment for subscriptions.

Lotteries/gambling, loans, electricity contracts, insurance, mobile and TV subscriptions, and health supplements are examples of products still often sold by phone.

— Being enticed and pressured to take loans you may not need and cannot afford is unacceptable. Aggressive marketing of credit contributes to the problematic debt situation we see in society today, states Cecilia Tisell.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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