site.btaGreen Party Performs Stronger than Expected in Swedish European Elections

“In Sweden, the Greens became stronger than expected,” said Gunnar Hökmark of the Stockholm Free World Forum in a BTA interview. He was approached to comment the results of the European Parliament (EP) elections in Sweden. 

“The Sweden Democrats weakened, but the main parties, the moderate party, the Swedish Social Democratic Party, remain more or less the same,” Hökmark commented. 

According to him, the EP election results in Europe as a whole show that the Left-wing has suffered, while the nationalist have gained strength, but nevertheless remain fragmented when it comes to policies. “So, I think the main result is that the Center-right European People’s Party, the Social Democrats and Renew [Europe] will remain the most important factor and dominate the process of legislation,” he said. 

Asked what he believes the main policy that the next EP will try to enact, Hökmark said that the big priority will be support for Ukraine in terms of financing, weapons and defence, as well as forming a European Union that can safeguard its citizens and the security of Europe. “That is the main thing, that requires, for example, reforms, increasing the growth of economies. We need much more economic growth in order to be a strong power globally,” he said. “I think that will be a little bit more possible now because the left has become less important. And I think there is a possible way to have less regulations, more market reforms than before. But that puts a high priority of the centre to focus on the issues of growth and competitiveness.