The SD, led by 43-year-old lawmaker Jimmie Akesson, and the Moderate, Christian Democrat and Liberal parties won 176 seats, according to the latest tally, giving them a three-seat lead over the Social Democrats of Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and their Left, Center and Environment allies. Andersson conceded Wednesday evening ahead of the final results. It could still take weeks to form a government.
“It is time to make Sweden good again,” Akesson wrote on Facebook.
The closely watched election has already reshaped Sweden’s political discourse, pushing anti-immigrant and tough-on-crime rhetoric into the political mainstream and deepening fears here about the polarization — or “Americanization” — of Swedish politics.
The European far right has welcomed the SD’s strong showing. “Everywhere in Europe, people aspire to take their destiny back into their own hands!” tweeted Marine Le Pen, France’s far-right firebrand, this week.
The result could also shape Sweden’s standing on the world stage as the country works with partners to respond to the war in Ukraine, seeks NATO membership and takes up the rotating presidency of the European Union in 2023.
“When you are holding on to power with one seat, it’s a cause of instability,” said Eric Adamson, a Stockholm-based project manager at the Atlantic Council’s Northern Europe office. “This may make it harder for Sweden to take on a leadership role in northern Europe, in the E.U. or in NATO.”
The SD gained support by taking a tougher stance on crime, particularly against the rising rates of gun violence in Sweden, and publishing a 30-point plan aimed at making Sweden’s immigration rules among the most restrictive in the E.U. They want to be able to reject asylum seekers based on religion, for instance, or based on gender or sexual identity.
A decade ago, Sweden’s liberal immigration policies were not a major political issue. The influx of migrants to Europe in 2015 started to change this. At that time, Sweden took more than 150,000 asylum seekers, including many newcomers from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. In the years since, concerns about immigration and their integration have come to the fore.
The Social Democrats maintain that they have reduced asylum claims by making it harder for migrants to get into the country and apply, stepped up the deportation of asylum seekers whose applications were rejected and insisted that Sweden receive no more asylum seekers than other E.U. countries. Party leaders also pledged to dilute the numbers of “non-Nordic” immigrants in areas where large numbers of immigrants live, promising an end to “Somalitowns,” “Chinatowns” and “Little Italies.”
Even a few years ago, the Sweden Democrats’ ascent would have seemed far-fetched.
Formed in 1988 by right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis, the Sweden Democrats did not manage enough votes to win seats in parliament until 2010. After that breakthrough, leaders began to exclude the most extreme members from the party.
Other parties and the media have kept their distance from the SD, refusing to talk to it or give it a platform. But support for the party grew rapidly over the past dozen years, culminating in its election showing Sunday.
Boycotted for so long by the mainstream media, the party has developed its own online news sites and is extremely effective on social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube.
Read More: Sweden election: Anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats help right defeat government
