By Margareta Bloom Sandebäck – Svenskarnas parti (SvP), “The Party of the Swedes”, is a Swedish neo-Nazi party, previously called the National Socialist Front. The Swedish Security Service regards the change of name purely cosmetic. SvP got 4,189 votes in the Swedish general elections in 2014, which is equivalent to 0.07 %, but still featured frequently in the press and managed to stir up rage and uproar in the streets as well as in the press. Sweden faces a new era, where racism has grown to become a powerful political force. The party describes itself as nationalist and seeks to limit Swedish citizenship to individuals that belong to the “Western genetic and cultural legacy”. SvP is against democracy and wants a homogeneous population, where ethnicity and biological heritage is central. Citizenship given to immigrants before 1975 would be reviewed and a process for the deportation of “non-swedes” would be initiated. SvP supports the National Democratic Party of Germany (NDP), whose leader proclaims that “Europe belongs to the white, and shall so remain.”
2014-05-01 Jönköping, Sweden
Women are a rare sight in right-wing extremist environments. They often join after boyfriends and husbands have already become members.
A bomb threat delayed SvP:s planned demonstration in Jönköping on May 1. The participants waited in a parking lot outside the city center until the demonstration could start. Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent2014-06-06 Öland, Sweden
Members of SvP want to limit the possibilities for abortion, raise the child support, make it illegal for single parents and LGBT couples to adopt, and they are against affirmative action; unequal representation in society is not a problem for them.
On June 6, Sweden’s National Day, the party organized a summer camp called “Nordic Vision”. Together with representatives from the German NDP, Magnus Nilsson, dressed in army pants, talked of the importance to have many children, as a guarantee for the “Swedish race” not to go extinct. The nuclear family with a mum, a dad and child is ideal.
Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent2014-06-06 Öland, Sweden
A former leader of SMR, a militant right-wing extremist organization, Magnus Söderman describes himself as a radio host, writer and social commentator. He has a wife and two children and makes a living as a truck driver.
“It doesn’t matter if there are economical advantages with immigration, or if the flow of refugees were to be reduced by 99 percent. It’s about ethnicity – race – and the survival of the race”, he says.
Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent2014-06-06 Öland, Sweden
Cultural traditions, such as the national anthem, the Swedish flag and other national symbols, are important to the party.
At the party’s summer camp, “Nordic Vision”, members speak of the past, long-dead kings and glorious wars, in which Sweden conquered the enemy.
Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent2014-05-01 Jönköping, Sweden During the demonstrations. Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent2014-05-01 Jönköping, Sweden
Jonas has a long history with the right-wing extremist movement. He is currently a politician for SvP, runningr for positions in the parliament, the municipality and the county council in Stockholm. In the car home from the manifestation in Jönköping on May 1, Jonas and his wife are tired. On their way home they picked up a member from the hospital who had been beaten up. Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent2014-08-19 Stockholm, Sweden
Jonas Lundström has a temporary place to stay at and MC-club in Stockholm when his son comes to visit. Due to an accident he was forced to amputate his arm, and is on sick leave from work. He is one of the candidates in the Stockholm elections.
Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent2014-05-01 Jönköping, Sweden
Many of the members of SvP live with protected identities . After their homes suffered attacks by Molotov cocktails, they feel threatened. Suspicion and fear are a part of their everyday lives.
The party believes that immigrants who have been sentenced for any typ of crime should be deported immediately, even though a third of the party’s candidates for the 2014 election 2014 are themselves convicted of a crime.
Jonas Andersson, the party secretary, has got a sentence for preparation to commit aggravated assault, after the police found knives, brass knuckles, tear gas and Molotov-cocktails in his car in Linköping 2005.
Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent2014-05-01 Jönköping, Sweden
On May 1, 450 policemen struggled to get the 200 demonstrators from SvP to reach the finish line of their demonstration: the Western Square in Jönköping, where thousands had gathered to protest against them.
Members claim that there is a constant battle between Swedes and “non-Swedes”, in which Swedes and other “white” Europeans have to defend themselves if they are to survive. According to them, this is something the rest of the population has yet to realize and something which media has done its best to conceal.
Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent2014-06-06 Öland, Sweden
During the “Nordic Vision” summer camp children ate strawberry cake and played traditional Swedish games. Meanwhile, the men stood watch, monitoring every passing car, on the lookout for “the reds” (the opposition).
Attacks against party members also affect their children and families. They are afraid that their “race will go extinct” and think people from other ethnic backgrounds should have to take a DNA test , be deprived of their Swedish citizenship and then deported.
Photo: Margareta Bloom Sandebäck / Kontinent