Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Swedish Party Democrats (SD). Photo credit: Jonas Ekstromer / AFP / Profimedia
The Swedish Democrats Anti-Imocratic Party (SD) presented a long report on its origins on Thursday, detailing connections with fascist and Nazi organizations, as well as xenophobic and anti-Semitic opinions, AFP and Agerpres inform.
The SD party commanded this “white book” in 2021, to put an end to the numerous controversies regarding its origins. Jimmie Akesson, his 2005 leader, has been seeking to wash the image of this party for a long time.
The 900 -page report notes that the party was founded in 1988 on the ashes of the nationalist and revolutionary right -wing group Bevara Sverige Svenskt (BSS, keep Sweden Swedish).
The Avant of SD towards the late 1980s and early 1990s is marked by a “ethno-nationalism”, a form of nationalism in which the “nation” is defined in terms of ethnic belonging. The opponents of this movement, as well as immigrants, are qualified as “enemies”, explained the historian Tony Gustafsson, the author of the report, during a press conference.
Of the 22 founding members whose identity has been established, 18 have “direct or indirect” links with BSS.
Relationships with Nazi groups remained gathered until the mid -1990s, Gustafsson stressed.
The youth sd greets in the Nazi style
Some SD candidates in the 1994 elections were members of the National Socialist Party Nordiska Rikpartiet and Vitt Ariskt Motstand (White Arian Resistance).
The latter “participated in demonstrations organized by the Democrats of Sweden and seem to have acted as some kind of unofficial security agents,” explains the historian.
A Gototeborg Assembly in 1993 was inspired for example from rituals and “dramaturgy” of the German Nazi Nazi Party, according to Gustafsson.
In the early 1990s, SD also organized concerts of white supremacy troops, and members of the party's youth organization were greeted with “Hell!”, The Swedish version of the German Nazi greeting “Heil!”.
For a long time very marginal, the party has gained importance under the leadership of Jimmie Akesson.
SD has arrived the second party of Sweden
Represented in Parliament since 2010, he became the second party of Sweden after the 2022 elections, with 20.5% of the votes. At present, SD supports the conservative right-wing government of ULF Krisisterson Prime Minister.
The main ideologist of the party, the deputy Mattias Karlsson, said on Thursday that he is “upset and disgusted” by the conclusions of the report.
“It is a fact that my party was founded in a problematic manner of people with opinions to a certain extent,” he admitted however.
The day before, Jimmie Akesson failed. “I present my apologies, personally and on behalf of the Democrats of Sweden,” about the fact that, “in a certain period, my party received people with anti-Semitic opinions,” he said.
In 2012, a “zero tolerance” policy in front of racism was implemented in the SD, after a series of scandals that involved some of its members.
