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Hungary said on Friday it had signed a deal to buy four Saab JAS Gripen fighter jets from Sweden, as Budapest finally prepared to approve Stockholm's bid to join NATO after nearly two years of delays. Hungary was the last member of the transatlantic military alliance holding out against Sweden's historic application to join, which it made in 2022 in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A raging inferno erupted at a new water park in Sweden on Monday, with flames decimating a number of under-construction outdoor waterslides and related facilities, authorities said. The massive blaze ripped through several yet-to-be-opened waterslides, including one with a drop of 43 feet, at the Oceana waterpark in Goteberg — sending plumes of black smoke over Sweden’s second-largest city. Harrowing footage shot by witnesses showed the slides, which had been scheduled to open in the coming months, engulfed by flames as several firefighting vehicles descended on the area. At least three explosions sent debris from nearby buildings scattering over the...

SWEDISH defence chiefs have been criticised for alarmist rhetoric after they admonished their countrymen and women to prepare for war. In particular, Sweden’s young generation is grappling with the unnerving possibility of armed conflict. Sweden, a nation, historically acquainted with peace and neutrality, is expecting a dramatic shift in its security outlook. Alarm Raised At National Conference On Saturday, January 6, at the Folk och Forsvars conference, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, the civil defence minister, starkly announced, ‘there could be war in Sweden.’ His comments, coupled with other senior defence officials’ warnings, have sent ripples of concern throughout the country. ‘For a...

Three explosions rocked the Swedish capital of Stockholm over just a four-day period as the country is coming off a record year for gang-related bombings. After a few months of relative calm, gang wars in the Nordic nation once again appear to be on the rise, as three explosions at residential buildings in Stockholm have been seen since Friday when a large blast went off at an apartment in Sundbyberg where a man with ties to a criminal gang lives. This was followed by an explosion on Saturday outside a hair salon in the industrial area of Vällingby. Finally, on...

Sweden plans to close its investigation into the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany after apparently failing to identify a suspect, several German media outlets reported on Tuesday. According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit newspapers and broadcasters NDR and WDR, the prosecutor leading Sweden’s investigation will announce a halt to the probe soon. “I will take a decision tomorrow and what that decision will be, I cannot tell you now,” Swedish Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist told Reuters on Tuesday, declining to elaborate. “It’s being coordinated for various reasons...

Couple sent to Sweden by IRGC lived in country for 5 years under fake names before being activated in plot to murder 3 Jewish citizens of Sweden, including community leader and dual US citizen. A couple was sent by the Iranian government to Sweden as undercover agents with the goal of murdering Jewish citizens, Radio Sweden reported. According to the investigation, the man and woman, who have been identified as Mahdi Ramezani and Fereshteh Sanaeifarid, were dispatched by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). They were tasked with murdering three Jews in Sweden, including Aron Verständig, Chair of the Official...

Swedish diplomat accused of spying for Israel Photo credit: amnesty.se Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus, imprisoned in Iran, is being used as a pawn in a political manoeuvre, his sister Ingrid Floderus said. Floderus, was detained at Teheran airport in April 2022 following a visit to a friend working for the Swedish embassy in Iran, accused of spying for Israel and “corruption on earth” which carries the death penalty under Iran’s Islamic laws. Floderus is one of many EU and Western citizens detained on trumped-up charges to obtain concessions from their governments in return for their release. In this case, his...

STOCKHOLM (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron was welcomed Tuesday with pomp and ceremony at the start of a two-day state visit to Sweden during which he will meet Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and the Scandinavian country’s monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf. Macron and his wife, Brigitte, were greeted by the king in the inner courtyard of the downtown Stockholm royal castle that is the official residence of the Swedish royals. There, Macron and Carl Gustaf reviewed members of the Grenadier Guards that had lined up. Macron noted that it had been too long since a French president visited Sweden...

With many major airlines now committed to sustainability and ‘green’ fuels, a protest at one of the UK’s airports focused on private jets. On Saturday, January 27, Greta Thunberg, the 21-year-old Swedish environmental activist, took a stand against the increasing use of private jets, joining forces with Extinction Rebellion at Farnborough Airport. The demonstration took place in the morning with the airport brimming with protesters, objecting to the proposed 40 per cent rise in annual flight numbers. Most Read on Euro Weekly News Spain to pioneer mobile national ID H&M announces major store closures in Spain Finance Roundup for Spain...

On this date in 1597, Jaakko Ilkka, leader of a great Finnish peasant rebellion called the “Cudgel War”, was put to death at at Old Isonkyron Church. This evocatively named disturbance broke out in the last days of 1596, so the reader will perceive that the cudgels didn’t have much by way of legs; it took place in a Finland which was then still a part of Sweden. In a typical peasant rising pattern, they won a few early encounters wrong-footing the nobility before heavy soldiery was properly mobilized and smashed the revolt. While the peasants had usual peasantry grievances,...

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the last remaining holdout in Sweden's bid to join NATO, now says he supports its application and vows that Hungary's parliament will say yes "at the first possible opportunity." Orbán's remark, made during a call today with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, comes a day after he asked his Swedish counterpart to first fly to Hungary for negotiations on NATO membership, only to be snubbed by the Swedish government. Hungary also broke a promise not to become the last to ratify Sweden's bid, when the Turkish parliament approved Stockholm's membership status late Tuesday, some 20 months...

Turkey's parliament ratified Sweden's NATO membership bid on Tuesday, clearing the biggest remaining hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance after 20 months of delay. Turkey's general assembly, where President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling alliance holds a majority, voted 287-55 to approve the application that Sweden first made in 2022 to bolster its security in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. All NATO members need to approve applications from countries seeking to join the alliance. When Sweden and Finland asked to join in 2022, Turkey raised objections over what it said was the two countries' protection of groups it deems...

Isn’t it interesting how Sweden’s doing a bit of a U-turn? I mean, who would’ve thought the right-wing government there would be all for keeping physical cash alive and kicking? So, get this – they’re not just talking about it; they’re considering making shops accept cash, going against the whole global trend of going cashless. It’s like they’re saying, “Hold on, we still want the option to use good old-fashioned bills and coins, thank you very much.”

Archaeologists in Sweden have discovered the medieval burial of an extremely tall man who was buried with a long sword — one that was nearly two-thirds of his height — and may have been a nobleman who supported the region's ill-fated union with Denmark and Norway.The sword, which is over 4 feet (1.3 meters) long, seems to have been inlaid with a different metal to form small Christian crosses, excavation leader Johan Klange, an archaeologist with the Halland Cultural Environment, an agency of the local government, told Live Science.Even taller than the sword was the man in the grave. Klange...

The new right-wing government is dismantling the goals outlined by the UN... Sweden has been doing a lot of right things lately. They have already scrapped the renewable energy plans and have been pushing for more nuclear power. In the new year, Sweden REMOVED climate taxes on fuel, causing diesel prices to collapse by over 4 SEK per litre. In 2022 when the Socialist democrats were in power, the diesel price reached a whopping 28 SEK per litre. After the right-wing government removed climate taxes, prices in the new year reached almost as low as 17 SEK per litre. That...

Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin told a defence conference "there could be war in Sweden". His message was then backed up by military commander-in-chief Gen Micael Byden, who said all Swedes should prepare mentally for the possibility. However, opposition politicians have objected to the tone of the warnings. Ex-prime minister Magdalena Andersson told Swedish TV that while the security situation was serious, "it is not as if war is just outside the door." Children's rights organisation Bris said that its national helpline did not usually receive calls about the possibility of war. But this week, it had seen an increase...

Swedes have been warned to brace for the possibility of war in the wake of their country's anticipated NATO membership in 2024 and the backdrop of Russia's conflict in Ukraine. Speaking at the Folk och Forsvar conference in Salen, Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin stressed the urgency of enhancing Sweden's resilience, citing concerns over the sluggish modernisation of the civil defence system. Mr Bohlin urged a collective effort from all segments of society, emphasising the need for swift action. "Many have said it before me, but let me say it with the force of my office - there could be...

Top security actors, including Swedish Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin and the country’s Commander-in-Chief, Micael Bydén, agree that Sweden could soon be facing a war and called for increased resilience, including among the civilian population. As Sweden is expected to join NATO in 2024 and the broader context of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Sweden’s Civil Defence Minister, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, urged his fellow citizens to prepare for war at the Folk och Försvar conference in Sälen. Bohlin expressed concern that the modernisation of the Swedish civil defence system was not happening fast enough and urged everyone, from managers and local councillors...

LUTEFISK DAY On December 9th, Lutefisk Day reminds residents in Norway, Finland, and Sweden to begin preparing their lutefisk for Christmas. The day is also referred to as Anna’s Day. In case you’re not Scandinavian, lutefisk is basically cod that gets soaked in lye. After the cod is caught, it’s dried to the point of becoming firm and leathery. To tenderize the fish and bring it back to its former condition, it gets soaked in lye. Once it’s nice and tender, the lutefisk is skinned and boned. Finally, the fish is boiled until it reaches a gelatinous consistency. Another way...

KEY POINTS: * Tesla is facing mounting pressure across Scandinavian countries to sign a collective bargaining agreement with employees in Sweden. * Finnish transport workers’ union AKT on Thursday confirmed that a blockade on Tesla vehicles earmarked for Sweden would also come into force across all Finnish ports from Dec. 20. * One of Denmark’s largest pension funds on Wednesday announced that it would sell its holdings of Tesla stock over the U.S. giant’s refusal to enter into agreements with labor unions. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tesla’s troubles with labor unions in Scandinavia deepened as it lost legal action against Sweden’s postal service...