Swedish parties reach governance deal with far-right backing

Three Swedish centre-right parties have announced they have reached an agreement to form a coalition government that will exclude the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats but will depend on their support in parliament.

The deal came after a month of negotiations following the Sept. 11 election, giving the Sweden Democrats, with their right-wing extremist roots, unprecedented clout in Swedish politics.

Opposition leader Ulf Kristersson said his Conservative Moderate Party would form a centre-right coalition government with the Liberals and Christian Democrats.

The Sweden Democrats will be outside the coalition but will help shape government policy from the sidelines.

The centre-right coalition relies on the Sweden Democrats’ support to secure a parliamentary majority.

Founded by neo-Nazis and other far-right activists, the party has gone mainstream under Jimmie Akesson, and since taking over in 2005, the party has risen from a fringe movement to Sweden’s No. 2 The big party, with more than 20% of the vote.

Mr Akesson said he would prefer his party’s cabinet seat but backed a deal that would let the Sweden Democrats influence government policy, including immigration and criminal justice.

“For us, the shift in power has to be a paradigm shift in immigration policy, which is absolutely decisive,” Mr Akerson said, adding that Sweden’s asylum rules should not be more lenient than those required by the EU, which have been in place since 1995. has been a member of the organization since.

Sweden and Germany stood out in Europe for their generous welcomes of asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa until the 2015-2016 immigration crisis triggered tighter controls.

An increase in gang violence in predominantly immigrant communities has led to widespread calls for tighter controls on immigration and harsher sentences and deportations for foreign citizens who commit crimes in Sweden, which the Sweden Democrats have long supported but in recent years The policies to be followed by both sides are centre-left and centre-right.

Mr Christerson, who is expected to lead the next government, said his coalition and the Sweden Democrats had agreed to increase sentences, including for gang members under the age of 18, and to create a special visitation area for police to fight crime.

“We will also conduct a thorough review of the entire criminal law, with tougher penalties for violent and sexual offences,” Mr Christerson said on Facebook.

Mr Christerson will meet with the Speaker of Parliament, who is expected to task him with forming a cabinet. A parliamentary vote on electing Mr Christerson as prime minister is expected on Monday.

Magdalena Andersson, the prime minister of the centre-left Social Democrats, continued to lead in a caretaker government until a new government was formed.