Sweden Democrat leader calls for 'reevaluation' of Swedish EU membership
The leader of the Sweden Democrats reawakened the spectre of Swexit – Sweden leaving the European Union – on Tuesday penning a debate article which called for a reevaluation of membership.
"With ever increasing instances of far-reaching gesture politics, EU membership is starting to become dangerous like a straitjacket which we have no choice but to simply accept and adapt to," Åkesson wrote in an opinion piece in the Aftonbladet newspaper.
"This means that German, Polish or French politicians can in practice decide over which car you are going to be allowed to buy, how expensive your petrol should be, or which tree you should be allowed to cut down on your own land."
As a result, he said there are "good reasons to properly reevaluate our membership of the union".
In the run-up to the UK's Brexit referendum in 2016, the Sweden Democrats called frequently for Sweden to follow the British example and hold a renegotiation of its relationship with the EU followed by an in-out referendum.
But in 2019, as the UK struggled to negotiate a satisfactory departure agreement, Åkesson changed his position saying that he now hoped to change the European Union from within.
In his article on Tuesday, Åkesson said that power was continually being ceded from Sweden to Brussels.
"The more that happens, the more the will of the people as reflected in parliamentary results is going to be less and less relevant," her said. "Our Swedish elections are going to soon become irrelevant to Sweden's development, and of course, we can't let that happen."
Comments
See Also
"With ever increasing instances of far-reaching gesture politics, EU membership is starting to become dangerous like a straitjacket which we have no choice but to simply accept and adapt to," Åkesson wrote in an opinion piece in the Aftonbladet newspaper.
"This means that German, Polish or French politicians can in practice decide over which car you are going to be allowed to buy, how expensive your petrol should be, or which tree you should be allowed to cut down on your own land."
As a result, he said there are "good reasons to properly reevaluate our membership of the union".
In the run-up to the UK's Brexit referendum in 2016, the Sweden Democrats called frequently for Sweden to follow the British example and hold a renegotiation of its relationship with the EU followed by an in-out referendum.
But in 2019, as the UK struggled to negotiate a satisfactory departure agreement, Åkesson changed his position saying that he now hoped to change the European Union from within.
In his article on Tuesday, Åkesson said that power was continually being ceded from Sweden to Brussels.
"The more that happens, the more the will of the people as reflected in parliamentary results is going to be less and less relevant," her said. "Our Swedish elections are going to soon become irrelevant to Sweden's development, and of course, we can't let that happen."
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.