Living in Sweden is a privilege, and it would be a disaster for the country if the left-liberals were allowed to shift the focus of the migration debate and open the country’s revolving doors again. These were the main points of the speech to the nation given by the Sweden Democrats’ prime minister candidate on Wednesday.
Six months before the Swedish election, migration has emerged as one of the main themes, and the media is filled with daily stories about children, young people and families affected by the government’s reforms.
In order to respond to the claims and accusations being conveyed via the media, the Sweden Democrats’ (Sverigedemokraterna) party leader Jimmie Åkesson gave a speech to the nation on Wednesday. Four days later, the video already has 65,000 views on YouTube alone.
Despite the fact that the Social Democrats are now also advocating a strict migration policy to deal with the lack of integration and the growing social problems, in the run-up to the election they are completely dependent on the support of parties that openly campaign for increased migration to Sweden. A government base that is so divided on a crucial issue for the nation is not credible, says Åkesson.
– It is no secret that Magdalena Andersson’s intended government base is deeply divided, especially around migration policy. On the one hand, we have the Social Democrats, who claim with the stubbornness of a fool that they have “always” been in favor of a strict migration policy, and everyone knows of course that this is pure nonsense. On the other hand, we have three supporting parties, absolutely essential for the Social Democrats to have any chance of forming a government after the election, which all instead want to increase immigration. And that is of course a completely impossible equation to solve, even for a determined power player like Magdalena Andersson.
During their three years in government, the so-called Tidö parties (the Moderates, the Sweden Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals) have implemented a number of changes to tighten the previously very liberal Swedish migration policy. In June, further changes, mainly regarding citizenship requirements, will be introduced.
The red-green parties criticize these changes, with the help of the media, by shifting the focus, among other things, to the so-called teenage expulsions, which are portrayed as teenagers who have lived in Sweden for a large part of their lives and who are thrown out when they turn 18. Jimmie Åkesson argues in his speech that it is instead about the fact that adult children of migrant workers do not have an automatic right to live in Sweden, and he emphasizes that the reform that has been implemented is both important and reasonable:
– In principle, I do not find it the least bit strange. Having a residence permit in Sweden is a privilege reserved for Swedish citizens and those who otherwise live up to the rules that we decide shall apply here in Sweden. It is not a human right to live in Sweden.
– Our reforms, the paradigm shift, are ultimately about cleaning up after several decades of completely irresponsible migration policy.
Åkesson describes Sweden as a country that used to be “the land of the free with revolving doors,” where Swedish welfare has attracted hundreds of thousands, but is now transforming into a country that also makes demands. Sweden should welcome those who behave and contribute, but should expel those who commit crimes or live on welfare.
– The goal is of course not, and never has been, to target well-behaved people,” says Åkesson, while describing Sweden as a country where there should be “one door in and one door out.
– You have your own responsibility. It is entirely up to the individual to adapt, to earn their own living, to choose the door that leads into Sweden – or not to do so.
– I genuinely believe in this. I believe that it is the only way forward after all these years of mismanagement.
Åkesson admits that there are of course individuals who suffer under stricter rules, but that it would be unreasonable to exempt people because of personal characteristics or media reports. He believes that it is not possible to make laws based on “individual needs and desires” – but that one should try to make laws “that are as accurate as possible”, and that he is open to having to “adjust the regulations a little”, so that they correspond to “what ordinary Swedes think is right and appropriate”.
– One should respect that things are almost always significantly more complex than they are portrayed in the media, but it is of course more important to throw out murderers, rapists and terrorists than well-behaved, young people who study or work.
With that said, Jimmie Åkesson believes that Sweden must never take a single step back in the direction of what he describes as “the chaos that prevailed under the previous government”.
– We must defend the necessary total transformation that has begun, even when the left-liberal complex is campaigning to shift the focus. Dear friend, they even claim that we intend to send babies without parents to Iran. The left-liberals are completely shameless.
Åkesson concludes by saying that both The Sweden Democrats and the Tidö government received a clear mandate from the Swedish people in the last election to clean up the irresponsible policies that the Red-Greens previously led.
– My clear ambition is to finish what we have started. It would be a total disaster once again to give small parties that are out of touch with reality the power to tear up the necessary measures that we have managed to put in place during this mandate. The small parties have already been allowed to do enough damage.
Watch Jimmie Åkesson’s speech here (in Swedish):