Aditya Vashisht
The recent parliamentary elections held in Sweden have been an object of surprise for many and a concern for few. Almost 17 years after, a right wing government is coming to power, but with a significant participation of the Sweden Democrats, the nationalist party aligning to the far-right which had been shunned by many.
It is quite an intriguing spectacle to see how a country known for its magnanimous levels of liberalism and tolerance in the cultural sphere can bring to power those who desire to ensure that Sweden remains ‘white and in its glory’. It has turned out that the wide arms with which the Swedes welcomed refugees has been a colossal failure. Instead of seeing peaceful co-existence, realizing the ‘cherished dream of multi-culturalism’, Sweden is witnessing a rise in crime which threatens to destroy the very fabric of the Swedish society. The prospects of more riots and the abominable incidents which are being committed by migrants on the once peaceful streets have undoubtedly led to a change in the mood of the Swedish public. No wonder then, that amidst a war raging in Europe, the continent gripped with an energy crisis and the Swedish decision to join NATO has had no effect on a significant proportion of Swedish voters whose priority was the ‘safeguarding of their culture’ as some might like to say. The concerns of many Swedes haven’t been built on lies. There is genuine prevalence of data to demonstrate that instead of becoming an asset for the society, the refugees have turned into a liability, with their welfare costing billions of dollars whose origins can be found in the pockets of Swedish citizens. In return, instead of prosperity, what Sweden gets is a decline in the standards of its society. News of a rape or a riot breaks out rarely, and the perpetrators in most of the cases have turned out to be from the migrant population. The number of sexual assaults can be backed statistically in which it has been reported that incidence of rape has strong chances of being committed by a migrant rather than a native Swede.
There was a recent case which literally touched the conscience of the people in which a 9 year old Swedish girl was brutally assaulted by a migrant which hadn’t hesitated in committing a crime just a day after he had received approval for asylum. Swedish parents are becoming increasingly concerned for their children, as there are high chances that they will face an assault on the street by migrants. Parallel societies have sprung up and there is a growing feeling of a ‘replacement’ of the native population in process. Many Swedes are feeling betrayed by the government which continues to dangle the key of immigration. Matters didn’t help when the Swedish Prime Minister Magadalena Andersson admitted the failure of the immigration policy of her country, but chose to blame the failure on white Swedes who didn’t ensure that they be integrated properly. The result of this statement has been that she has had to resign her post of the Prime Minister after her party, the left-wing Social Democrats has been booted out of power. An important aspect of the recent elections has been the vote share of parties based on different age groups. It has been noted that the new voters i.e. those between 18 to 21 years of age have in significant percentage voted for the Swedish Democrats. This is an indication that the Swedish youth which would take the reins in the future has a solid number of people whose tilt is towards nationalist ideology. Many grand children are turning out to be more extreme than their grandparents. This is a sign which has many interpretations. The question is bound to arise that what would be the impact of the novel trajectory of Swedish public opinion on other European countries? It must be mentioned that the aforementioned condition of the law and order situation in Sweden is being replicated in the cities of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom which have taken a lot of migrants. These countries have their own percentages of crime which are quite big. The once peaceful streets of many European countries are replacing their adjectives from being safe to dangerous. The unabated influx of migrants has had a profound impact upon various European societies, which in turn has raised fears that Europe as it is traditionally known will meet its end in the future. This is becoming a source of increased tensions. The result is that ideologies which were stridently discarded after Second World War are undergoing a resurrection. This only makes one ponder whether Europe is going to be at peace in the future. The chances of it seem to be bleak. It cannot be denied that for Europe, the future might be filled with revivalism and 21st century crusades.
