STOCKHOLM — Voters in Sweden made their views on immigration known Sunday in a general election that could strengthen a party with roots in the white supremacist movement if enough ballots were cast to protest an influx of newcomers to the historically heterogeneous nation.
The potentially promising prospects of the far-right Sweden Democrats had many other Swedes worried about an erosion of the humanitarian values that have long been a foundation of the Scandinavian country’s identity.
The election was Sweden’s first since the government in 2015 allowed 163,000 migrants into the country with a population of 10 million. The number is far lower than the asylum-seekers Germany accepted that year, but highest per capita of any European nation.
When I was younger I did not have a problem telling people that my family were Swedes. But I have not bragged about that for quite a while. The country where my father was born embarrasses me. It would be nice to think that things would swing back to common sense but that is not likely going to happen. My wife and me went for a visit six years ago and all my cousins who are still there are lazy socialists. The country is pretty well screwed.
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