Free Republic

Nuclear war as a result of North Korea’s actions is a genuine possibility, and Donald Trump isn’t helping, says Sweden’s former Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. Reinfeldt, who led Sweden with a centre-right government between 2006 and 2014, spoke to Aftonbladet TV in an interview on Friday looking back on 2017. The situation in Korea is “one of the biggest threats of war we have in the world,” he noted, adding that Trump’s mocking of Kim Jong-Un has not helped. […] The 52-year-old added that Trump’s lack of diplomacy is an issue: “He’s like a teenage boy who always has to...

In case you consider yourself an expert of the economy of Sweden and issues of Economics in general, please skip the following introduction to the article. Otherwise; While goody, self-opinioned, PC Swedish officials are doing no one a favour trying to brand the "New" Swedish Model as a pre-packed, instant solution to each and every challenge any corner of the World might encounter, Liberals like Obama also need to listen more carefully to what Scandinavians actually are wishing to say. American Liberals, Continental Europeans, the British and many others often appraise the Swedish societal concept without actually having much knowledge...

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has indicated that his government is ready to push ahead with further tax cuts assuming public finances continue to improve. Reinfeldt told Sveriges Television (SVT) on Sunday that he’s open to moving ahead with the fifth stage in the centre-right government’s in-work tax credit programme (jobbskatteavdraget). According to Reinfeldt, the tax reductions could come as soon as January 1st, 2012 as long as the four parties of the centre-right Alliance government can come to an agreement on the issue. “But we believe on the best way to stimulated part time workers and low-wage earners to...

Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has joined forces with UK Prime Minister David Cameron to call for "less talk and more action" to ensure that Europe tackles its economic crisis as EU premiers head to Brussels for crisis talks. In an opinion article in the UK Financial Times on Thursday, Reinfeldt and Cameron lay out "four clear steps" which they argue are needed to ensure that Europe "thrives and prospers". "First we need to get a grip on our debts," the pair write, underlining that as "Sweden has been living within its means it is one of the member states...

"Stockholm wants to get the EU to sign up to a new UN global warming treaty to be negotiated in Copenhagen in December and which would replace the Kyoto Protocol on cutting carbon emissions that expires in 2012. "We need a global answer to this global problem," Reinfeldt said. ... Other priorities include EU enlargement, of which Sweden is a fierce advocate, improving European judicial cooperation, and developing a strategy to improve the Baltic Sea's marine environment and the region's growth potential. Reinfeldt's government will host the European Commission for a meeting in Stockholm on Wednesday that will formally open...

Visiting Sweden, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that Sweden is one of NATO’s most important partners and is welcome as a member in the rapid reaction force, should Sweden decide to join. On Friday Morning, NATO’s Secretary General met Sweden’s Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, one of the two places where Swedish troops come under NATO command as part of the ISAF force. They also discussed possible participation in NATO’s rapid reaction force (NRF), with Sweden saying a decision may be reached by the spring. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer also promised to...

The government has pledged to introduce income tax cuts worth 10.8 billion kronor ($1.6 billion) at the beginning of next year. Writing in Dagens Nyheter, the four party leaders promised that this second wave of income tax cuts, combined with the first, would result in a total increase of 1,000 kronor per month in take home pay for all those in gainful employment. "We have hereby fulfilled an important promise from last year's election campaign," wrote Fredrik Reinfeldt, Maud Olofsson, Jan Björklund and Göran Hägglund. The leaders also noted that the number of people employed in Sweden had risen by...

The Swedish media and the Prime Minister rallied Sunday behind a cartoonist whose depiction of the Islamic prophet as a dog earned him death threats from Al-Qaeda in Iraq, as Swedish companies braced for a backlash. Cartoonist Lars Vilks said he was ready to die after extremists in Iraq offered $150,000 to anyone who slit his throat or $100,000 for his murder by other means. Related Articles Vilks to get police protection 16th September 2007 Ericsson takes down flags in Iraq 16th September 2007 Al-Qaeda puts bounties on heads of Swedes 15th September 2007 Article Options Send to a friend...

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has spoken out about the need for Sweden to stand up for press freedoms following the controversy surrounding the publication by a local newspaper of drawings of the Muslim prophet Muhammad. Asked whether Sweden risked being drawn into a similar situation as that faced by Denmark two years ago, Reinfeldt replied: "I think it's important to say two things. First, we are eager to ensure that Sweden remains a country in which Muslims and Christians, people who believe in God and people who don't believe in God, can live side by side in a spirit of...

Swedes' support for Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt remains strong, according to a new poll. 47 percent of voters asked for a new poll say that Reinfeldt is the best person to lead the country. Only 34 percent supported Social Democrat leader Mona Sahlin. The poll was commissioned from Sifo by PR agency Westander. Pollsters interviewed 1,000 voters. "Fifteen percent of those who say that they vote for the left-wing parties have greater faith in Reinfeldt, while 7 percent of right-wing voters have greater faith in Sahlin," Westander wrote in a statement on Monday. Reinfeldt's personal popularity contrasts with support for...

"It is a real beauty" - that's President George W. Bush's verdict on the brush cutter he was given by Fredrik Reinfeldt during the Swedish Prime Minister's visit to the White House. In a letter dated June 18th and released to journalists on Wednesday, Bush tells Reinfeldt that he has already put the brush cutter to use on his Texas ranch following the prime minister's visit in May. "Dear Fredrik: I was honored to welcome you to the Oval Office," the president writes. Reinfeldt was slammed by opposition politicians at home for not using the meeting to criticize US policy...

Tributes have been pouring in for Ingmar Bergman, one of the most influential film directors of the 20th century, who died on Monday at his home on the Swedish island of Fårö. He was 89. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt hailed Bergman as "one of the great dramatists in this world," and French President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to "one of the geniuses of our time." "The dream ended, the music went quiet that night on the island of Fårö, where Ingmar Bergman died," Sarkozy said. "France, a land of the cultural exception that was dear to Ingmar Bergman, honours...

STOCKHOLM -- Imagine a life where work is optional and the state guarantees a minimal standard of living regardless of employment or effort. Such a cradle-to-grave entitlement system has been the centerpiece of Swedish politics since 1932. Last September, a political earthquake shook the Riksdag (parliament) here in Stockholm when Swedish voters decided to cast off former Prime Minister Goran Persson's venerable Social Democratic government in favor of a more market-oriented political alliance led by Moderate Party leader, Fredrik Reinfeldt. "They [the Social Democrats] were stunned," says Riksdag official Yngve Borgstrom, of the 2006 election. "They really didn't expect to...

Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in Berlin last night to discuss how to resurrect a new constitution for the European Union. Reinfeldt expressed his support for the Germans’ efforts to come up with a draft that all 27 EU countries can accept, after voters in the Netherlands and France rejected the proposed constitution in 2005. After the meeting he said Sweden’s views were heard, and the meeting was part of efforts to get Sweden to play a more constructive role in EU affairs. Germany has held the rotating...

Sweden's economy will continue to grow at a healthy pace, according to a new prognosis from the OECD, but inflation poses a threat. The Swedish economy grew by 4.7 percent last year - the highest growth level for more than 30 years. This year it will fall slightly to 4.3 percent, dropping again to 3.5 percent in 2008. Even that figure would be high by historical standards, and OECD economists said they saw few signs of weakness. The government was praised for cutting taxes for low earners and for its reforms to the unemployment benefit system. "The labour market reforms...

Sweden will abolish its wealth tax this year to boost investments and create jobs, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said Wednesday, the latest in a slew of reforms announced since his centre-right government ousted the Social Democrats from power six months ago. The move was broadly welcomed in political and business circles. "We will propose to abolish wealth tax as of 2007 in our spring budget bill," Reinfeldt, the leader of the conservative Moderate Party, wrote in an article published in daily Dagens Nyheter. The article was co-signed by the heads of the three other government coalition partners, Maud Olofsson of...

Liberals vow to tackle immigrant ID muddle The Liberal Party has said it plans to propose a motion to the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament, on Friday, after The Local revealed that most immigrants have effectively been barred from receiving Swedish ID cards. The party will suggest that a state agency gets the right to issue ID cards to new arrivals in Sweden. Stricter regulations put in place in January by Svensk Kassaservice lock out unmarried immigrants from seeking a Swedish ID. The banks, the only alternative for a valid ID have similar policies. Fredrik Malm, MP and Spokesperson for migration issues...

Carl Bildt Sweden's new Foreign Minister Former prime minister Carl Bildt has been named as the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the new government presented by Fredrik Reinfeld on Friday. Ten of the 21 new ministers are women, and nine ministers are Moderates. 57 year old Carl Bildt was prime minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and was the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for the Balkans between 1999 and 2001. He has been on the board of Vostok Nafta since 2002 and is also on the board of Lundin Petroleum AB, a part of the Lundin Group of...

Brisk reforms expected from Reinfeldt Sweden's next prime minister, newly-elected Fredrik Reinfeldt, is expected to undertake brisk economic reforms he vowed to implement once in office, namely job creation, tax cuts and privatisations, analysts say. Reinfeldt's Moderate Party and the other parties of the Alliance for Sweden made job creation the main focus of the election campaign. "They have a very ambitious plan for opening up the labour market with several economic incentives to get people into the labour market in the short term," SEB bank chief economist Klas Eklund told AFP. The Alliance has proposed to cut taxes for...

The Alliance election victory may lead Sweden into a period of improved relations with Israel. According to the Jerusalem Post: "Nobody will admit it formally, but a few government officials in Jerusalem are dancing a jig over the defeat Sunday of Sweden's Social Democratic government." Inge-Britt Lundin, a Liberal Party politician who was chairman of the Sweden-Israel Friendship Association for twenty years, is equally pleased: "There are a lot of strong personalities in the Alliance, particularly in the Liberal and Moderate parties, who look favourably on Israel. Fredrik Federley from the Centre Party is also very positive, as are quite...