Today in Sweden: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
Find out what's going on in Sweden today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.
Sweden considers expelling Russian diplomats
Sweden has not yet decided whether to expel Russian diplomats in response to alleged war crimes against civilians in the Ukrainian town of Butja.
"We are looking at this possibility," Foreign Minister Ann Linde told state broadcaster SVT. "But we also need to stay in place at our embassy in Moscow. That is also important. We are trying to support voluntary organisations so they can still work in the country and also to be in contact with the opposition."
Linde said the discovery in Butja of mass graves and dead bodies lying in the street was an act of cruelty almost without parallel.
Swedish Vocab: motstycke – parallel
Police to stop mass-booking of passport times in Sweden
Swedish police have altered their passport booking system to make it more difficult for people to mass-book passport times, and thereby worsen the long queues to get an appointment.
Everyone who books a time now needs to fill in a special box designed to prevent people booking passport times using automated 'bots'.
"You need to fill in an alphabetic and or numeric combination in an answer box," said Magnus Roglert, head of the police's passport unit. "It's something bots cannot do."
Swedish Vocab: att förhindra – to prevent
Dairy cooperative Arla restarts sales of Russian kefir
Swedish dairy cooperative Arla has restarted selling Russian kefir, a loose yoghurt-like drink, in new packaging that does not feature Moscow's Red Square, but instead features abstract plants which lack any clear Russian element.
"It is Red Square itself which we think is associated quite closely with the Russian regime that lies behind the war in Ukraine, and that does not good to be associated with," said Carolina Starck, the company's communications chief, when product was removed from shops at the start of March.
The company's kefir was made in Sweden from Swedish milk and had no connection with Russia beyond the name and the traditional production process.
Swedish Vocab: att förknippas med – to be associated with
Stockholm municipality quashes plan to rename street outside Russian embassy
The naming committee at Stockholm Municipality has chosen not to rename the street outside the Russian embassy to protest the invasion of Ukraine. There have been calls to rename the street Zelensky-gatan, after Ukraine's President, for instance.
"You should be quite careful when changing the name of a street. You have to have a good reason for it, and perhaps there should be a problem with the existing name," Olle Zetterberg, the committee's chair, told TV4.
"We do not think you should take a name from someone who is still living, like Zelensky. That's not what we usually do in Stockholm."
He said that if politicians insisted on changing a name to make a statement, they should instead rename a part of Mariebergs Park, outside the embassy.
Swedish Vocab: ett skäl – a reason
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Dairy cooperative Arla restarts sales of Russian kefir
Swedish dairy cooperative Arla has restarted selling Russian kefir, a loose yoghurt-like drink, in new packaging that does not feature Moscow's Red Square, but instead features abstract plants which lack any clear Russian element.
"It is Red Square itself which we think is associated quite closely with the Russian regime that lies behind the war in Ukraine, and that does not good to be associated with," said Carolina Starck, the company's communications chief, when product was removed from shops at the start of March.
The company's kefir was made in Sweden from Swedish milk and had no connection with Russia beyond the name and the traditional production process.
Swedish Vocab: att förknippas med – to be associated with
Stockholm municipality quashes plan to rename street outside Russian embassy
The naming committee at Stockholm Municipality has chosen not to rename the street outside the Russian embassy to protest the invasion of Ukraine. There have been calls to rename the street Zelensky-gatan, after Ukraine's President, for instance.
"You should be quite careful when changing the name of a street. You have to have a good reason for it, and perhaps there should be a problem with the existing name," Olle Zetterberg, the committee's chair, told TV4.
"We do not think you should take a name from someone who is still living, like Zelensky. That's not what we usually do in Stockholm."
He said that if politicians insisted on changing a name to make a statement, they should instead rename a part of Mariebergs Park, outside the embassy.
Swedish Vocab: ett skäl – a reason
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