Sweden blames Spain's lax migration policies for Ceuta crisis
Swedish Migration Minister Johan Forssell has called on Spain's government to "take back control" and learn from Sweden, after over 60,000 migrants passed over the border to its North African enclave of Ceuta last week.
"We warned of the risks of that. When you have large amnesties for people who have no right of asylum, that creates incentives for people who have no right of asylum to come to Europe," he said.
He compared the situation to that which Sweden faced in 2014 and 2015 when around 244,000 people applied for asylum in Sweden.
"Sweden had similar policies previously, ten years ago when 250,000 people came in two years. We have learned the lessons from that. That's why we've remade our policies. But Spain has gone in the other direction, and yes, many of us warned that this could have consequences – which it has as well."
Swedish vocabulary: att varna – to warn
Ultraswimmer swims from Kåseberga in Skåne to Poland
The Polish ultraswimmer Bartlomiej Kubkowski arrived in the Polish town of Dziwnów on Sunday after swimming a gruelling 160km stretch of the Baltic from Kåseberga in Skåne.
The swimmer was affected by hallucinations along the route, high waves, cold and wind. While he had support boats which provided him with drinks and food, he was not permitted to hold on to it or even touch the support boat.
Swedish vocabulary: att röra – to touch
Foxtrot leader sentenced to prison in Iraq
One of the leaders of the Foxtrot gang, who is suspected of ordering a shooting in Gävle, has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Iraq, where he has been held awaiting trial since December for drug trafficking.
Swedish police have submitted an extradition request for the man, who is described as an ally of Foxtrot leader Rawa Majid.
Six people, all young and some under 18 years old, were shot when a 13-year-old boy opened fire at Södra Kungsgatan in Gävle on the night of October 4th last year.
Swedish vocabulary: narkotikahandel – drug trafficking
Swedish PM and opposition leader launch tours as election campaign kicks off
Sweden's prime minister and opposition leader both launched bus tours on Monday, as the campaign for the election on September 13th kicked off after the summer holiday.
"Now we are going into the second half," said Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who leads the Moderate Party, as he got on the party's bus outside its Stockholm headquarters, expressing confidence that his party and its allies can erase the lead the opposition has enjoyed since the 2022 election.
When voters understand that the left-wing bloc would return Sweden to an old politics of higher taxes, outdated security policy and softer policies on crime and immigration, he argued, their lead would evaporate.
Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson said that voters did not seem too impressed by the new coalition on the right, which would bring the far-right Sweden Democrats into government.
Kristersson presented the drastic reduction on fatal shootings in Sweden as one of his government's key successes, pointing out in Eskilstuna that there had been 23 shootings in 2022 and only two so far in 2026.
Andersson, who launched a new slogan, Det är dags att ta Sverige på allvar, "It's time to take Sweden seriously", said she would focus on three main principles, making Sweden safer, richer and more cohesive.
Swedish vocabulary: andra halflek – the second half game