Stockholm [Sweden], May 3: Sweden's membership of the European Union needs to be re-evaluated, the head of the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats wrote in an opinion piece for the Aftonbladet newspaper published on Tuesday.
The EU was turning into a "straitjacket" for Sweden with its increasingly "symbolic politics," Jimmie Åkesson wrote. Following the September elections, the Sweden Democrats are the second-largest party in parliament.
Åkesson's word has carried increasing weight since the elections brought conservative leader Ulf Kristersson to power as prime minister at the head of a minority government. Kristersson's coalition lacks a parliamentary majority without the support of the Sweden Democrats. Åkesson wrote that power was transferred from Stockholm to Brussels, and Sweden's influence on EU policy was limited. The Sweden Democrats have taken a eurosceptic line, particularly on migration issues.
"This ensures that German, Polish or French politicians can in practice decide which car you are allowed to buy, how expensive the petrol should be, which trees you may fell on your own land," he wrote. There were sound reasons for evaluating Sweden's EU membership "correctly," he said. As other EU members used the bloc to their advantage, he added that Sweden had to do the same.
Johan Pehrson, head of the Liberal Party, which is part of the ruling coalition, told Swedish radio that reconsidering Sweden's EU membership was completely ruled out. Sweden's influence on the EU should increase, Pehrson said. The debate came during Sweden's six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Source: Qatar Tribune