Nordic Countries
IMAGO/TT
After winning over 11 percent of the vote, and two mandates, in June’s European Parliament elections, the Swedish Left Party Vänsterpartiet is celebrating its best election results in twenty years. The historic result brought the party a step closer to fulfilling large parts of its main strategy, something it has been working towards for more than a decade. How this outcome is to be interpreted – whether as a direct result of this strategy, or a widening of it – is now up for debate.
The European election also took place mere...
read more "Sweden’s Left Party celebrates its biggest win in 20 year"
read more "Sweden’s Left Party celebrates its biggest win in 20 year"
IMAGO/Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg
Record results for (Centre-)Left parties in the Nordic countries, with far-right parties losing ground. Denmark, Finland and Sweden surprised during the European elections with results that seemed to contradict the political drift in much of the rest of Europe. While this is a ‘ray of hope’ to many on the progressive spectrum, do these results really signify the development of a countertrend? And what might be the implications in the mid-term? The Rosa-Luxemburg’s Foundation’s Ada Regelmann gives a sober...
read more "More than just an electoral upwind? Nordic left-wing parties after the EU elections"
read more "More than just an electoral upwind? Nordic left-wing parties after the EU elections"
For many, Scandinavia is synonymous with social democracy, high union density, public ownership, and progressive governments inclined to climate action and sustainable policies. A recent study tour to Norway and Denmark, hosted by Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s New York and Brussels offices, found that both countries still struggle with entrenched interests – local and international – holding back a genuine “just transition”.
The five-day study tour in October brought ten experts – legislators, researchers, and activists – ...
read more "Northern Lights? Nordic lessons for the just transition"
read more "Northern Lights? Nordic lessons for the just transition"
For the first time in a century, Norway’s Labour Party failed to top the country’s local and regional elections, pipped to the post by the centre-right conservatives. Ingrid Wergeland looks at the election, and the political trends behind the result.
A dark blue wind
A dark blue wind has blown across Norway in the municipal elections held on September 11. Høyre (the Conservative Party, 25.9 percent, +5.8) and the right-populist Fremskrittspartiet (Progress Party, 11.3 percent, +3.1) have gained power in a majority of cities....
read more "In Norway local elections herald a shift to the right"
read more "In Norway local elections herald a shift to the right"
Event ReportOn 8-9 June 2023 the Brussels Office of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (RLS) hosted a workshop in Malmö to facilitate the exchange of experiences and strategies between several left-wing parties grappling with the issue of security policy, particularly in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The event was held face-to-face and invitation-only to guarantee an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality to participants.
The workshop brought together 20 party activists and decision-makers from the political left in Sweden, ...
read more "“Security and the Left” – Impact Workshop"
read more "“Security and the Left” – Impact Workshop"
The Finnish parliamentary elections were held on April 2, but it has taken almost three months for a new government to be formed. After only two weeks in power, Finland’s new right-wing coalition faces neo-Nazi scandals and a mounting opposition to its austerian agenda that make it seem increasingly unlikely to last the full four-year election cycle. In the meantime, however, it is already doing plenty of damage.
April’s national election saw big gains for Finland’s right-wing opposition. The governing parties all lost ground – with the exception of the...
read more "Finland’s Cabinet of Horrors"
read more "Finland’s Cabinet of Horrors"
The first two years of Norway’s Arbeiderpartiet (Labour Party)/ Senterpartiet (Centre Party) coalition government have seen the challenges mount up, with debates about solidarity dominating at the international level, while domestic economic inequality has increased.
A new hope?
The expectations for real political change after the 2021 elections were high. The centre-left and socialist parties had won a solid majority in parliament, after eight years of conservative-liberal welfare and public sector cuts, tax cuts for the wealthy, and ...
read more "Strained Alliances in Norwegian Politics"
read more "Strained Alliances in Norwegian Politics"
In late March of this year, the Swedish Parliament voted by a large majority to join NATO and abandon the country’s traditional policy of military non-alignment. Only the Left and Green parties voted against the move.
Outside parliament, a majority of the Swedish people also favour joining NATO. Next door, Finland’s NATO membership is already a fact. The immediate reason for this shift is clear: NATO supporters have a superior campaigner for their cause in Vladimir Putin. Russia’s invasion and occupation of parts of Ukraine has shifted public opinion ...
read more "Sweden in NATO — And Then What?"
read more "Sweden in NATO — And Then What?"
Why far-right populism won the Swedish election, but is making the right lose its credibilityAfter five weeks of complicated negotiations, on 18 October 2022 Sweden’s Parliament (Riksdagen) elected the most far-right government in the country’s history. The centre-right Moderates, along with their junior partners, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, depend on support from the far-right Sweden Democrats to govern. The Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) actually received more votes than any other party on the right, but didn’t ...
read more "Sweden’s four messy months of right-wing government"
read more "Sweden’s four messy months of right-wing government"
In June 2022, the Brussels Office of Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung hosted a workshop in Copenhagen to better understand and compare the central issues, experiences and strategies of left-wing parties’ participation in, or support of, governments in the region. The event was face-to-face and by-invitation only to guarantee an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality to participants.
The workshop brought together 30 party activists and decision-makers from among the political left in Sweden, Denmark and Germany.[1] Participation ...
read more "Impact workshop: “The Left in Power”, Copenhagen 9-10 June"
read more "Impact workshop: “The Left in Power”, Copenhagen 9-10 June"