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🇸🇪 Sweden /Elections & Politics

Jimmie Åkesson: ‘Then I will be the next prime minister’

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Ongoing story
  • Jimmie Åkesson says the Sweden Democrats should receive 12 to 14 ministerial posts if the Tidö parties win Sweden’s election, with Ulf Kristersson remaining prime minister.
  • Åkesson argues that his party must move from supporting the government to joining a majority coalition on equal terms, and calls an opposition victory a catastrophe.
  • His party entered the government support framework after the previous election, but now seeks formal ministerial power.

Jimmie Åkesson celebrated a football victory with a shot of Jägermeister and a long walk to the supporters’ section. Four months later, his own party faces the more consequential test: whether the Sweden Democrats will finally enter a Swedish government.

It could be incredibly damn exciting if we win.

· Jimmie ÅkessonHe spoke while supporting his football team, Mjällby AIF, before its cup final.

On May 14, 2026, Åkesson watched his team, Mjällby AIF, play Hammarby in the cup final. He stood outside O’Learys in Solna with his wife and football friends, wearing Mjällby’s black-and-yellow shirt. He briefly found himself among Hammarby supporters before moving toward the correct group. Fans shook his hand, bought him drinks, took selfies and joined him on the walk to the stadium.

Mjällby won 2-1. The political decision awaits four months later. Åkesson has led the Sweden Democrats for more than 20 years, and after the previous election the party became part of the government’s support base for the first time. Through the Tidö Agreement and staff placed in the Government Offices, it secured some of its key priorities. Now it wants the next step: ministerial posts.

I would never voluntarily sit down and watch a match. You cannot sit down and watch football.

· Jimmie ÅkessonHe described how he watches football while standing among supporters.

Since April 1, it has been clear that Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderate Party, would head the government if the Tidö parties win. Åkesson says the Sweden Democrats should receive a “proportionate number” of posts based on the parties’ size. As the largest party supporting Kristersson’s government, he considers 12 to 14 posts reasonable.

We need to complete what we have started. We believe we can do that best in a majority government where four parties participate on equal terms. That is the starting point.

· Jimmie ÅkessonHe explained why the Sweden Democrats are seeking formal ministerial positions in the next government.

“We need to complete what we have started,” Åkesson says. He wants a majority government in which all four parties participate on equal terms. “It would be a catastrophe if the opposition wins the election,” he says. In early May, back home in Blekinge for the first time in two weeks, he said he remained hopeful and that the trend was positive for the Sweden Democrats.

It would be a catastrophe if the opposition wins the election.

· Jimmie ÅkessonHe described the stakes of the coming election for his party.
About this summary

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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