Max Hjelm: Time for Benjamin 'Snooza' to wake up – SD does control Swedishness

Moderate politician Benjamin Dousa is facing criticism for what is described as a naive understanding of the Sweden Democrats' (SD) influence on defining Swedish identity and integration policy.

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As luck would have it, it is not the SD who defines who can be Swedish and who cannot be Swedish.

Denice Westerberg, chair of the Young Swedes, stated that Muslims cannot be Swedish and that building mosques imposes their values. While Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Dousa have distanced themselves from such views, the author questions Dousa's stance, given the ongoing cooperation with the Sweden Democrats.

The core of the Tidö agreement, according to the article, involves a paradigm shift in migration policy, making it harder to become a Swedish citizen and introducing "character requirements" for those not sharing "Swedish values." Furthermore, Prime Minister Kristersson has reportedly promised that the SD will have control over integration policy if the Tidö parties win the upcoming election.

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The cooperation has never been about defining Swedishness.

SD leader Jimmie Åkesson has previously stated that being Swedish means having ancestors who fought and died for the country. The author argues that Dousa's attempts to distance himself from SD's ethno-nationalism and Islamophobia are weakened by the Moderate Party's pre-election promise to hand over control of integration policy. This, the author contends, makes the prospect of another Tidö government concerning.

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Ancestors have the right to a voice today.