Annika Ström Melin: Why Do Politicians Pretend Voters Are Dumber Than They Are?

Sweden's next government must make a flying start in Brussels, but voters have heard remarkably little about the decisions awaiting it. That is the central criticism from Annika Ström Melin, a journalist and independent columnist on Dagens Nyheter's editorial page.

Anyone who has followed Swedish parliamentary elections since the country joined the European Union in 1995 should not be surprised, she writes. Even so, this year's campaign represents something close to a record: very little has been said about many issues that could shape Sweden's future.

News broadcasts continually report on Russia's aggression in Europe, Trump's bombing of Iran, China's expanding influence and the weakening of the United Nations. They also cover the EU's attempts to remain united and respond to a world increasingly governed by authoritarian leaders. Swedish election coverage, however, has focused overwhelmingly on Sweden itself.

The European Movement in Sweden held a discussion in Stockholm, SVT's Agenda briefly addressed the union's climate policy, and a party leaders' debate on public radio ended with a short European segment. Otherwise, the campaign has been almost silent on the EU. Ström Melin calls that both strange and paradoxical, arguing that voters understand individual nations cannot determine their fate entirely on their own.

The column links the silence to old political divisions. The 1994 referendum campaign deeply split several parties, including the Social Democrats and the Centre Party. Parties later preferred to avoid exposing internal disagreements over EU policy in parliamentary elections, arguing that Sweden needed to present a united front in Brussels. That approach remains, in the columnist's view, partly understandable, because a Swedish government needs strong domestic support to press its demands. But voters, she argues, still deserve more information about the choices ahead.