HOUR Swedensuccessive President of the Council of the EU announced that it would launch an “information campaign” aimed at Immigrants and refugees to enter the country.

Immigration Minister Maria Malmer Stenegaard and Swedish Democratic (SD) far-right leader Henrik Vinge said at a press conference yesterday that the country will need to invest more in information in its quest to reduce immigration. The campaign will include targeted communication with foreign media and news agencies, as well as with foreign embassies in Sweden. “This government was elected, among other things, with a mandate to change immigration policy. This requires many and significant changes,” said Stenegaard.

As a result of the September elections, the centre-right Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats and the Liberal Party formed a coalition government with the support of the ultra-right SD, which gained a historic 20%. The far-right party was expelled from government in exchange for accepting much of its tough immigration policy.

Better information could prevent unprotected people from coming to Sweden and reduce the suffering of migrants trying to enter the country, Stenegaard said. “Today, two-thirds of the people who come to Europe have no protection. They leave their lives in the hands of human traffickers. If they are informed about the rules, we will reduce the risk that these people will suffer,” the minister commented. Better information will help change the way people see Sweden, she says. “People are often well informed, and there is a reason why 163,000 migrants came from all over Europe to cold little Sweden in the north in 2015. This is because they knew that there are more lenient rules here, ”Stenegard commented. The country of 10 million people has received an average of 121,000 migrants annually since 2016, with 20% of the population born abroad in 2021, according to the Statistics Office.

For many, this decision seems unexpected, given the country’s attitude towards the reception of immigrants and refugees. However, the pressure from the far-right party to support these changes is no longer negligible. “The Swedish government has made a deal with the extreme right, and they must honor it. Otherwise, the Swedish Democrats actually have the opportunity to overthrow the government. It’s like he’s being held hostage,” Karlstad University professor Tobias Hibinet told EURACTIV.