Monday, June 2, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Sweden’s government wants to place prisoners abroad

Published 20 December 2023
– By Editorial Staff
Gunnar Strömmer is on the lookout for prison sites in the "immediate area" around Sweden.

There is an acute shortage of places within the Prison and Probation Service – something the Swedish government hopes to solve by renting prison places in other countries. An investigator has now been appointed to examine whether this type of placement is practically viable.

– We must work on several fronts at the same time, said minister of justice Gunnar Strömmer (M) at a press conference on Thursday.

Politicians and the Prison and Probation Service have long warned that there are not enough places to house all prisoners, and existing institutions and remand prisons are currently being expanded across the country – yet the government says this is not enough.

The governing parties and the Sweden Democrats therefore hope to be able to rent prison places in other countries and have launched an investigation to examine whether this is possible, how much it would cost and what practical and organizational problems need to be solved. It will also analyze how to organize the transports, what kind of prisoners can be placed abroad and how to ensure that they are treated in an acceptable and legal way.

Mattias Wahlstedt, permanent secretary and deputy head of department at the Police Legal Department, has been appointed as an investigator and will work on this assignment for 12 months.

Looking in the local area

According to Gunnar Strömmer, it is not currently known which countries Sweden can sign agreements with – but the focus is on the “immediate area”.

– You can think of the Nordic region and Europe, where there is experience with other comparable countries that have rented sites abroad.

The Netherlands is an example of a European country that has received prisoners from other EU countries for a fee, and is one of the options the government will look at more closely.

– Of course there are risks, but I am convinced that it is possible to take care of them in a good way. That is what the investigator will do, and we are open to what the investigator will come up with. Our point is to get to the bottom of these issues, the justice minister continues.

According to Strömmer, Sweden needs to double the number of prison places compared to today.

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Swedish Social Democrats: Population must be mixed

Population replacement in the West

Published today 14:33
– By Editorial Staff
Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson and party secretary Tobias Baudin.

The Swedish Social Democrats have concluded that integration efforts over the past few decades have not yielded the desired results.

The party now wants to focus on mixing the population and ensuring that newly arrived migrants are spread out and placed in “socioeconomically stronger” areas.

At the Social Democratic Party congress this weekend, the party presented a new migration and integration policy program for the upcoming elections, with a strong focus on social engineering and mixing people from different backgrounds in the same residential areas.

– It is important from a socioeconomic perspective to achieve diversity, claims Social Democratic Party executive Jonas Attenius in the tabloid Aftonbladet.

Decades of unrestricted mass immigration have led to the creation of ethnic enclaves and areas in many parts of Sweden that are completely dominated by people with non-European backgrounds.

The Social Democrats themselves have been driving forces behind this development and have ignored alarms and warnings from critics – but now claim that the situation is unsustainable and that the solution is instead large-scale, nationwide mixing.

– We are serious about breaking segregation and using housing policy as a driving force in this work, declares Lawen Redar, who has been working on developing the party’s new integration policy.

Preventing moves to “vulnerable areas”

To achieve this, asylum seekers will no longer have the right to arrange their own housing, and municipalities will be prohibited from placing migrants in so-called “vulnerable areas” – residential areas where many non-European immigrants already live.

Furthermore, moving to these immigrant-dense areas will also be restricted by making those who move there risk losing their social benefits. Instead, migrants will be placed in “socioeconomically stronger” areas around the country.

– We have legislation that requires us to place people, and it is not God-given that it always has to be in a suburb. But this presupposes strict migration, that it is at a very low level, says Jonas Attenius, chairman of the municipal council in Gothenburg and newly elected member of the Social Democrats’ executive committee.

He confirms that mixing is a stated and very important goal for the Social Democrats, but believes that it may take time.

– Yes, we need to mix the population in the long term. I usually say ‘in a generation’. This is a long-term goal.

“No problems whatsoever”

– It is important to use our housing construction to achieve this mix. The way we live is also segregated. In one place there are rental properties, in another there are villas and condominiums. We want to work on building a mix, Attenius continues.

He believes that voters will welcome the explicit mixing policy and takes the opportunity in the gossip magazine to apologize to the migrants who have been placed in Swedish suburbs in recent decades.

– I say sorry to them. Sorry for what we’ve done. Now it’s time for the full force of society to step in. If a refugee family moves into an apartment building where people who’ve lived in Sweden their whole lives also live, and five blocks away another newly arrived family moves in — I don’t think that will be any problem whatsoever, he assesses.

No “paradigm shift” yet

Mass immigration to Sweden has been extremely extensive in recent decades – according to statistics from the Swedish Migration Agency, nearly 2.5 million people have immigrated in the 2000s alone – leading to a long list of difficult problems.

Regardless of whether the Social Democrats or the Moderates have governed Sweden, the policy of population replacement has continued, and anyone who opposed it could long expect to be subjected to smear campaigns or character assassination in the establishment media.

However, the success of the Sweden Democrats has led to a rhetorical shift among the other parties, and today both the Social Democrats and the Moderates claim that they want to see a limited migration policy. In practice, however, not much has happened, and despite the government’s promises of a “paradigm shift in migration policy”, 94,000 residence permits were granted last year.

More young Swedes getting confirmed: “Want to get closer to God”

Published today 8:33
– By Editorial Staff
Young people are confirmed in St. Mary's Church, Ystad.

After decades of decline, the number of confirmands in Sweden is now increasing – and many young people say they feel a need to get closer to God.

It’s no longer uncool to be interested in the Christian faith or to call yourself a Christian, says parish educator Sara Björnö.

After falling from 80 percent in the 1970s to below 20 percent during the coronavirus crisis, the number of confirmation candidates has now recovered to pre-2020 levels. This has led the media to speculate that it is a lasting “Jesus trend”. However, Associate Professor Frida Mannerfelt in practical theology believes it is too early to draw any firm conclusions:

– We should be cautious about calling the increase a trend reversal, she says.

Confirmation has changed from a self-evident tradition to an active choice for a minority, driven by secularization and the fact that Christianity no longer has a special status in Sweden, as well as the immigration of non-Christian groups.

At the same time, many young people say that it is precisely their encounter with other religions that has made them curious about religion and led to a desire to find a religious affiliation for themselves.

“Making an active choice”

Today’s confirmands are no longer attracted by gifts, but by a desire to explore life issues such as death, identity, and community. Statistics also show that more people are being baptized during the confirmation period – from 1 percent in 2007 to 10 percent in 2022 – which indicates a growing interest in Christianity.

Being able to discuss questions such as ‘How should I deal with the fact that I’m not perfect?’ is necessary in a society where pressure is put on young people from various quarters – such as social media and the current grading system – to be perfect, says Mannerfelt.

Those who choose to be confirmed today are, to a greater extent, making an active choice to do so, continues the lecturer.

Sara Björnö is a parish educator in the Almby parish in Örebro, and she clearly sees that more young people today are curious about Jesus and Christianity.

– Quite a few say they are interested in God and Jesus. Several have written that they want to get closer to God and that they have found faith after confirmation.

Attracted by soccer camps and ski trips

She has noticed a noticeable change in how young Swedes view religion.

It’s no longer uncool to be interested in the Christian faith or to call yourself a Christian, she says.

At the same time, the Church of Sweden has also been criticized both externally and internally for being “vague” and unserious in its recruitment efforts – for example, by attracting confirmation candidates with secular activities such as soccer camps, ski trips, and visits to amusement parks.

There is a discussion within the Church of Sweden about whether the pursuit of relevance risks appearing frivolous, but the prevailing view is that there are several ways to achieve this, concludes Frida Mannerfelt.

The Swedish Church has also been criticized by conservatives for being perceived in many places today as highly politicized, with a strong focus on modern left-wing activism rather than on faith in God and traditional Christian values.

Tests reveal imported honey in Sweden is fake

Published yesterday 11:34
– By Editorial Staff
According to EU rules, real honey should only contain honey - and nothing else.

All honey imported into Sweden is fake, new tests show. Instead, the “honey” contains mostly sugar and syrup.

The industry organization Biodlingsföretagarna has tested 40 honey products available on the Swedish market. A new form of DNA technology was used to test the honey.

36 of the products, all imported, did not contain real honey, the tests showed. Instead, the products contained sugar and syrup. Only four of the products tested contained real honey and all were produced in Sweden.

We consider this to be extremely serious. We knew there were fake products on the market, but we are shocked by the scale of it, says Yngve Kihlberg, chairman of the Swedish Beekeepers’ Association, to the tax-funded SVT.

“Must await EU decision”

In the EU, a product called “honey” must contain only honey. It is okay to mix honey from different origins, but not to add other ingredients. According to the trade association, most of the imported “honey” comes from China, where they have found ways to cheat to allow products to pass controls even though they contain very little honey.

Swedish grocery retailers will not replace the honey products identified as fake at this stage, as they have passed the current controls.

We would like to replace the current testing methods if they do not work. But we have to wait for the EU’s decision on the accreditation of the DNA tests, says Martin Andersson, who is responsible for industrial policy at the Swedish grocery trade, to SVT.

Worrying trend: More people driving under the influence of drugs

Published 30 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Genre image - traffic accident. There is no information that drugs are related to this particular incident.

In Sweden, it is now more common for drivers to be under the influence of drugs than alcohol, while in Finland it is still more common to drive drunk than under the influence of drugs.

Between 2018 and 2022, 81 people died in Finland in traffic accidents where the driver who caused the accident was under the influence of at least one drug. This corresponds to 11 percent of all fatal traffic accidents during the period when drug testing was possible.

– Alcohol is still the most common intoxicant in fatal traffic accidents, but drugs are becoming increasingly common. This is particularly true of amphetamines, which are often linked to high speeds and risky decisions. Cannabis is also common among those who drive while intoxicated, says Kalle Parkkari, Director of Traffic Safety at the Finnish Accident Investigation Board, to Swedish Yle.

Statistics show that drivers under the influence of drugs are more likely to collide with other vehicles, while drivers under the influence of alcohol tend to drive off the road or crash in off-road terrain. However, Parkkari points out that the number of cases is so limited that it is difficult to draw firm conclusions.

– There is nevertheless a slight trend indicating an increase in drug-related driving under the influence. Traffic is part of society, and drug use in society appears to be on the rise. It is therefore inevitable that drugs will also begin to appear more frequently in traffic, Parkkari notes.

Sweden stands out in the statistics

In Sweden, the trend is more alarming. Between 2012 and 2022, 23 percent of drivers who died in traffic accidents were under the influence of drugs, compared to 11 percent who had alcohol in their system. Drug-related drunk driving has thus overtaken alcohol as the most common cause.

Lars-Olov Sjöström, traffic safety manager at the Swedish Motorists’ Sobriety Association, points to a change in attitude among young people as a possible explanation.

– For a hundred years, we have taught people not to drive with alcohol in their system, but the surveys we have conducted in collaboration with authorities in Norway show that the same young people who refrain from driving when under the influence of alcohol do not think as carefully when it comes to cannabis. We are lagging behind in providing information about cannabis and other drugs.

“We can learn from each other”

He believes that a more liberal and permissive view of “recreational drugs” among young people makes the work more difficult, but still sees hope for change within five to ten years. Both Parkkari and Sjöström emphasize the importance of cross-border cooperation to manage the development.

– It would be enormously helpful if we could learn from other countries’ experiences in this area. While the situation in Finland is still under control, it is very important to ensure that it does not get worse, says Parkkari.

Sjöström agrees, adding:

– We are seeing the same pattern in Finland as we have seen in Sweden, so we can learn from each other and discuss methods for dealing with the problem.

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