Swedish far-right party polls second-place amid looming elections

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA - The Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigrant far-right political party, is now polling second in the Nordic country as it gears up for elections due next month, according to polls released on Thursday.

Once barred from politics due to ties with neo-Nazis, it has for several years held onto its position as third-largest political party in Sweden by pushing an anti-Muslim and anti-immigration narrative.

The latest survey results show that the populist Sweden Democrats are fighting to replace the Moderates for the second spot, as both stand at 18.6%, while the ruling Social Democrats command 30.6% of voter support.

"In today's survey we are at the second place together with the Moderates," the far-right party said on Twitter, adding that Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, of the ruling Social Democrats, would be "fired" in a month.

"We are campaigning all over the country for this to happen," it added.

In their first election speeches, Swedish political parties spoke about key issues for their campaigns, with most placing heavy emphasis on immigrants.

Migration is a key issue for the Swedish Democrats, who claim that the "mass migration" of "illegal immigrants, economic migrants, and asylum seekers" has caused "societal problems" in the country.

Pledging stricter laws against asylum seekers, they have vowed to deport criminal or so-called "asocial" immigrants, stop all refugees from countries that "are not close to us," and tighten migration to the "strictest possible level according to EU law."

They also want to see the number of migrants leaving Sweden increase to exceed those arriving.

The Social Democrats, meanwhile, have pledged to focus on migration as part of "migration, asylum and refugee politics," while the Moderates, despite migration not being a major issue for them, propose introducing "a volume limit for reduced immigration," arguing that Sweden needs "tightened immigration for integration to succeed."