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Thursday, September 18, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-government-replaces-us-aid-with-millions-for-soros-funded-media/

Sweden

Swedish government replaces US aid with millions for Soros-funded media

Published 6 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson together with Minister for International Development Cooperation Benjamin Dousa (M).
3 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Swedish taxpayers will now have to cover the funding shortfall that arose when the US withdrew its aid to the international journalism group OCCRP – Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project

The government has announced that it will provide SEK 70 million (€6.4 million) in new support to the network, which was previously funded largely by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and has also received millions from George Soros’ notorious Open Society Foundations and the CIA-linked National Endowment for Democracy.

The Swedish aid is officially justified by the desire to “strengthen freedom of expression and democracy” in repressive environments. Critics, however, argue that the initiative is completely irrelevant to Swedish taxpayers and that the support is rather an expression of the Swedish government’s ideological and geopolitical loyalties

– Strengthening freedom of expression and democracy is an important part of the government’s reform agenda for aid. Support for OCCRP is part of this work, asserts Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Benjamin Dousa (M) in a press release.

The OCCRP, which describes itself as a network for investigative journalism, is particularly active in Eastern Europe, especially in Ukraine. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the organization’s work has contributed to the development of analysis and background information for Western sanctions against Russia. When US aid via USAID was suspended – according to previous information, amounting to over a third of the OCCRP’s total budget—the organization’s activities were hit hard.

Now Sweden is stepping in to cover a large part of the shortfall. The government’s press release states that it wants to “continue to support human rights and democratic forces such as independent media in vulnerable environments as a central part of Sweden’s long-term democracy support”, especially in countries that are “constantly exposed to Russian disinformation campaigns and other attempts to influence”.

Destabilization and propaganda

However, the fact that Swedish tax money is now replacing US cuts in support for a globally active NGO with clear links to George Soros and American influence campaigns has led to criticism and questions about the priorities of Swedish aid policy – and has been highlighted by establishment-critical media.

The criticism is not just about the amount. OCCRP’s close ties to both the US propaganda apparatus and Soros’ Open Society Foundations have led several observers to question its impartiality. The organization has received significant sums from, among others, USAID, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and other US government agencies with stated foreign policy ambitions.

Both the Soros networks and the US intelligence services have also been accused of systematically using propaganda media to destabilize countries, reduce public confidence in political leaders they want to remove, and try to lobby for systemic change in a more globalist and US-friendly direction.

Billions for “democracy and human rights”

Support for the OCCRP is no exception, but part of a larger trend. According to the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs’ own figures, Sweden is currently the world’s third largest donor of aid to foreign “free and independent media”. In total, support for “democracy and human rights” amounted to SEK 6.6 billion (€600 million) in 2024 – equivalent to a quarter of Sweden’s entire foreign aid budget. In addition, there is further Swedish tax money distributed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs – often to organizations with links to the UN

In the same year, the government also decided to increase funding for other related organizations, such as the European Endowment for Democracy and the Prague Civil Society Center. The former’s support increased from SEK 20 million (€1.8 million) to SEK 35 million (€3.2 million), while the latter’s was doubled.

Although politicians are keen to point out the importance of promoting press freedom in allegedly authoritarian states, critics argue that it is highly questionable whether Swedish taxpayers’ money should be used to finance this type of politically charged activity far beyond Sweden’s borders – and further question how it will be possible to determine in retrospect whether the initiative has produced the desired results.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/only-1-in-80-swedish-special-shelters-meets-modern-standards/

Sweden

Only 1 in 80 Swedish special shelters meets modern standards

The new cold war

Published yesterday 9:36
– By Editorial Staff
The Igeldamm Garage in Stockholm, Sweden is the only major shelter in Sweden that meets modern standards.
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Swedish authorities have intensified their messages in recent years about citizens needing to prepare for crises and war. Meanwhile, an investigation of the country’s own shelters reveals major shortcomings in the maintenance of critical infrastructure.

Of Sweden’s eighty special shelters – intended for nearly 100,000 people – only a single facility has been upgraded to modern standards after decades of neglected maintenance.

The Igeldamms garage in Stockholm, Sweden stands today as the sole example of a completed special shelter, while the remaining 79 facilities still await necessary upgrades, reports Swedish public television SVT.

The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) has begun modernization work in approximately thirty of the eighty special shelters. The work has cost €7.7 million in the past year alone, but the pace is said to be far from sufficient to meet political ambitions for improved crisis preparedness.

Henrik Larsson, head of population protection at MSB, cannot provide information on when all facilities will be remediated:

— It depends. We need to get into all facilities and see what condition they’re in. In some facilities, quite extensive renovations may be required, and then it becomes very costly.

— If all facilities are in the same condition as here (Igeldamms garage), then it shouldn’t be any problem to do it before 2030, but I suspect we’ll have some facilities that we’ll need to spend time and significantly more money on, he continues.

64,000 shelters to be inventoried

During the Cold War, thousands of shelters were built around the country, but many have been used for completely different purposes for decades without proper maintenance. Now MSB has been tasked with inventorying the country’s total stock of 64,000 shelters between 2025 and 2030.

For the current year, approximately 10,000 minor inspections and around 2,000 major inspections are planned – a pace that MSB itself considers insufficient:

— We need to increase by 500 more per year to go through the entire stock by 2030. We need to be between 12,000 and 13,000 annually, estimates Larsson.

Inadequate protection

In addition to the already approved Igeldamms garage, with space for 1,200 people, two additional facilities are planned to be completed next year – one in Stockholm and one in Gothenburg, Sweden. This means that only three of eighty special shelters will have modern standards before 2027.

MSB’s assessment shows extensive shortcomings in the existing stock: only half of all shelters offer satisfactory protection against shrapnel and bombs, while only about ten percent have reasonable protection against chemical warfare agents.

Since the responsibility for addressing deficiencies lies with individual property owners, MSB cannot provide any timeframe for when the shelters will actually be in functional condition.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

About Swedish shelters

Sweden has over 64,000 shelters with space for approximately seven million people. The shelters may be used for other purposes during peacetime but must be ready for use within two days during heightened alert or war. When a shelter is activated, it must have water, heating, ventilation and toilet facilities – however, there is neither food nor hygiene products.

The shelters are built to protect against shock waves and shrapnel from explosions, fire, chemical weapons and radiation from radioactive substances. People should be able to stay in the shelter without interruption for at least three days. It has never been the ambition to build shelters for the entire population, and their placement has been determined based on threat assessments.

During air raid alerts, people should immediately go to the nearest shelter or other protective space such as basements or subway stations. People do not belong to any specific shelter but use the one that is closest.

Source: MSB (Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency)

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-pm-dont-bring-middle-eastern-conflicts-to-swedish-streets/

Sweden

Swedish PM: “Don’t bring Middle Eastern conflicts to Swedish streets”

The genocide in Gaza

Published yesterday 8:27
– By Editorial Staff
The loud pro-Palestinian protests have become a very troublesome disruptive element for the Kristersson government.
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of the Moderate Party presents new measures against demonstrations and says he now wants to remove “Middle Eastern conflicts” from Swedish streets.

Critics note, however, that the Moderate Party has for many years pushed for mass immigration specifically from the Middle East – and continues to do so.

In a post on X, the prime minister writes about how politicians have been confronted outside the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament), ministers have been followed home from work, and Jewish families have been subjected to threats, and now the government promises tougher action.

“Don’t bring Middle Eastern conflicts to Swedish streets and squares. We must take care of the Sweden we love”, the prime minister appeals.

The statement comes from the same party that during Fredrik Reinfeldt’s government from 2006 significantly increased mass immigration to Sweden from the Middle East – a policy that continues today despite all problems and warnings, even though the rhetoric has changed.

In just these two decades, Sweden has received hundreds of thousands of people from various conflict areas in the Middle East, and a large portion of them have today been granted Swedish citizenship.

After Israel’s invasion of Gaza, however, Swedish politicians from the Moderate Party and other liberal parties have shown growing frustration and anger over the vocal protests from many of the immigrants they themselves allowed into the country.

These demonstrators protest almost daily against Israel’s genocide against Palestinians and demand, among other things, that Sweden cease its support for the Israeli state – demands that have become increasingly troublesome for those in power.

“Intrusive” demonstrators may face harsher punishment

Therefore, Kristersson now announces the following measures, among others:

• Review of criminal liability for demonstrators who act “intrusively or aggressively”
• Police given greater opportunity to decide on alternative times and places for demonstrations
• Clearer opportunity for police to intervene if decisions are not followed
• Police must report on how they work against disturbances at gatherings

The government is also reviewing possibilities to deport pro-Palestinian demonstrators who are considered particularly troublesome or who are accused of “glorifying terror” by, for example, expressing sympathies for Hamas or other groups designated as terrorist organizations.

“Whipping up hateful sentiments”

Kristersson writes in his post that “a heavy responsibility also rests on those who, by spreading lies, terror romanticism and antisemitism, polarize and whip up hateful sentiments in Sweden”.

For many, however, it appears ironic that the prime minister now claims to want to stop Middle Eastern conflicts from Swedish streets – conflicts that have largely come to Sweden through policies that his own party has implemented.

Others point out that it is telling that those in power react so strongly and condemningly only when they themselves are affected by disturbances and discomfort, while ordinary Swedes have been affected daily for many years by significantly worse immigration-related incidents without this receiving any attention whatsoever.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/swedish-teachers-union-warns-threats-and-violence-becoming-normalized-in-schools/

Sweden

Swedish teachers’ union warns: Threats and violence becoming normalized in schools

Published 14 September 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

An increasing number of teachers are being subjected to threats and violence in their professional roles, according to a report from Sveriges Lärare (Swedish Teachers’ Union). Staff working in after-school programs are the worst affected.

One in three teachers has been subjected to threats or violence in the past year. Meanwhile, four out of ten have witnessed a colleague being subjected to the same.

The report also shows that violence is becoming increasingly normalized – many teachers have stopped reporting incidents due to lack of support from school management and unclear procedures.

— Threats and violence in schools are no longer isolated incidents – this is a systemic failure. That we teachers cannot feel safe at work is unacceptable and must never be normalized. The limit of what we teachers can endure has been exceeded, says Anna Olskog, chairperson of Sveriges Lärare in a press release.

Problem worst in after-school programs

Teachers in after-school programs are the worst affected – six out of ten have been subjected to harassment, threats or violence. Half of all teachers experience high stress, one in three suffers from depression and one in five is considering leaving the profession. The report also shows a clear connection between increased exposure and staff shortages.

Sveriges Lärare demands zero tolerance for threats and violence from school management and that authorities address the problem.

— Threats and violence in schools are not just a school issue, it’s a societal issue. When teachers hesitate to report incidents and when colleagues leave the profession, we lose both quality and safety in schools. We have long demanded a national effort – from the state, from school management and from society as a whole – to reverse this development, says Olskog.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

https://nordictimes.com/the-nordics/sweden/more-swedish-adults-worry-about-childrens-mental-health/

Sweden

More Swedish adults worry about children’s mental health

Published 12 September 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Mental illness among children has become a widespread societal problem, experts warn.
2 minute read
Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

Nearly half of Swedish adults have felt concern for a child’s mental wellbeing, according to a survey conducted by Verian on behalf of Bris (Children’s Rights in Society), a Swedish children’s helpline. At the same time, many don’t know how to get help for the child.

A large portion of calls from children who contact Bris concern mental health issues. During the summer, for example, 46 percent of calls dealt with this theme, showing a stable trend. Last year, the proportion of calls about mental health issues was 44 percent, confirming that these issues have been prominent for several years.

The survey shows that five out of ten adults have at some point felt concern about a child’s mental wellbeing. Of these people who felt concern, 64 percent say they know how to get help for the child. At the same time, 22 percent are uncertain and 14 percent say they don’t know.

— We know that many adults want to act, but the fear of doing something wrong can sometimes become an obstacle. We often give the advice that as an adult, you don’t need to be an expert on everything. The most important thing is that you reach out to the child, says Sara André in a press release.

In recent years, mental health issues have increased among children and young people. Among other things, the number of young people seeking help for depression and anxiety has increased, according to the National Board of Health and Welfare. The proportion of ADHD diagnoses has also increased markedly among children, where it increased by 50 percent just between 2019 and 2022.

Editorial Staff
editorial@nordictimes.com

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