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Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday

The Local Sweden
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Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
The Migration Agency has released a new forecast. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.

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Married couple to serve as ambassadors to Sweden

A married couple will become Germany’s new ambassadors to Sweden. Joachim Bertele will first serve for eight months, and then his wife Christina Beinhoff will take over, reports the TT newswire. The ambassadors handed their letters of credentials to King Carl XVI Gustav on Tuesday.

It is not the first time Germany lets a married couple share their duties. Natalie Kauther and Adrian Pollman were appointed as ambassadors of Slovenia last year.

Swedish vocabulary: married – gift

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Swedish Migration Agency’s latest forecast

The Swedish Migration Agency predicts that around 13,000 people will seek asylum in Sweden this year, according to its latest forecast. It is adjusted down from 15,000 in the previous forecast in April.

The agency also predicts that 87,000 people will apply for a work permit over the whole of 2021 (up from 81,000 in the previous forecast), 24,000 for a study permit (no change) and 76,000 for Swedish citizenship (up from 73,000).

Swedish vocabulary: citizenship – medborgarskap

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Swedish Armed Forces respond about Afghan interpreters

After politicians on both sides of the aisle called on the government to help Afghan interpreters who worked for the Swedish Armed Forces in Afghanistan, Justice and Migration Minister Morgan Johansson said that the Migration Agency and Armed Forces were investigating the possibilities of giving protection to the interpreters.

But the Armed Forces now say on their website that they have not employed any local interpreters in Afghanistan since the so-called “Isaf mission” finished in 2014, and after that used people hired by other countries, including Germany.

In total, 69 people were given protection in Sweden in connection with Isaf.

Swedish vocabulary: Armed Forces – Försvarsmakten

New Swedish unemployment statistics

Unemployment is falling in Sweden, according to new statistics by the Employment Agency, but the number of people in long-term unemployment is increasing.

In July, unemployment fell year-on-year from 7.9 to 9.2 percent, and youth unemployment fell from 13.4 to 10.5 percent. But the number of job-seekers who have been without work for 12 months increased by 25,000 people to 190,000 people.

Swedish vocabulary: unemployed – arbetslös

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