19
Oct
2022
Watch
Whitewashing of the anti-European extreme right in the EU (topical debate)
Mr President, thank you very much. The Commission and the Council! “The Sweden Democrats have a nationalist background and a deplorable past. They stand for things I don't stand for. They have a different view of culture and equality. The words come from the Swedish Liberal Party leader Johan Pehrson in a TV interview. The same party, the Liberals, has now entered into an agreement with this far-right party, the Sweden Democrats. An agreement that means that the Sweden Democrats with their far-right agenda now dictates the conditions for the new Swedish government where the Liberals are included. What a few years ago was inconceivable for the right-wing parties and the Liberals, to cooperate with the far right, has become accepted and normal, to the point of opting out of their own policies. For the Liberals had a choice, a decisive choice, and they chose to give power to the far right. I never thought, never that this could happen in my country, Sweden. Liberals in Sweden are embarrassed. Through the Swedish Liberals, Renew has now opened the door for cooperation with ECR. Will we go the same way in this house? Renew, it's your turn. You must be clear. You have to make your choice. We have challenges in Europe, where we have to stick together. And for us Social Democrats, it is a matter of course to protect our fundamental values and not to give the far right more influence than it already has by being elected to Parliament. I hope both the EPP and Renew understand the seriousness of this issue. One example in Sweden is that the new government has already scrapped the well-known feminist foreign policy. It's just the beginning.