The conservative Sweden Democrats are campaigning on strengthening the EU’s external borders and stopping the massive flow of migrants into the Union. To get their demands across, top candidate Charlie Weimers says they are prepared to work with more nationalist-oriented parties as well, and that it is the actual results that matter most.
The Sweden Democrats’ EU election slogan is “My Europe builds walls” – a travesty of former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven’s infamous 2015 statement, when he expressed his support for very large-scale mass immigration and declared that “My Europe builds no walls”.
– It’s about physical border barriers at the EU’s external border, SD candidate Charlie Weimers told TT news agency.
He wants physical barriers to be erected at the EU’s borders with Turkey, Morocco, Russia and Belarus, but today it is forbidden to finance this type of border barrier with EU funds – a ban that SD wants to tear up.
– This is an absolute red line, an absolute demand, from our side, he says, explaining that they are prepared to bring down the EU migration commissioner if they do not get their demands through.
Asylum centers in Africa?
Furthermore, the Sweden Democrats want the EU to conclude agreements with various African countries, where they commit to taking back their citizens who have sought refuge in Europe for various reasons – at present, however, few countries in Africa are willing to accept their compatriots as long as they do not themselves wish to return voluntarily.
There is also a desire to emulate the British Rwandan model and move the asylum process outside the EU to make Europe less attractive, with Weimers citing Ghana as a possible example.
For this to become a reality, however, a more conservative EU Parliament is needed. Although SD hopes for cooperation between its own party group ECR and the more liberal-conservative EPP, where the Swedish Moderates and Christian Democrats are represented, they are unlikely to get their own majority together.
Instead, it may be necessary to seek support from the more nationalistic and nationally conservative EU group ID, which includes the Italian Lega and the French National Rally, where Marine Le Pen is perhaps the most well-known profile.
Meanwhile, the Moderate Party’s EU candidate Tomas Tobé has said that he believes his group (EPP) should continue to work with social democrats and left-wing liberals, rather than seeking more conservative partners.
“In the interest of voters”
According to Charlie Weimers, a vote for SD should be “a vote for change on concrete issues”.
– If that means that we sit down and negotiate and discuss with parties that we do not agree with on other important issues – well, it is in the interest of our voters that we are constructive.
He is thus open to working with more ‘radical right’ parties on issues such as migration – but not on support for Ukraine, as he believes ID does not take a sufficiently anti-Russian line there.
In addition to a number of migration-related changes, according to its manifesto, the SD is campaigning to limit the EU’s power over the nation state, remove EU membership from the Swedish constitution, reform the Union’s climate pact, develop a European strategy for nuclear power and strengthen the competitiveness of farmers in the EU’s internal market.
Since 2019, however, the issue of leaving the Union is no longer being pursued. In the last EU elections, the Sweden Democrats received 15.3% of the vote and three out of 21 Swedish seats. However, after the departure of Peter Lundgren and Johan Nissinen, Weimers remains the only Sweden Democrat in Brussels.
