‘Not welcome’: How Sweden’s far right took over Stockholm Central Station

Stockholm, Sweden – When Neira Tokalija, a 39-year-old therapist, saw the slogans of Sweden’s far-right enactment plastered wall-to-wall crossed Stockholm Central Station, she felt a acquainted consciousness of fear.

As a child, Tokalija had fled Bosnia and Herzegovina with her household aft ethnic cleansing campaigns targeting Bosniaks.

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After seeing dozens of run posters and installations crossed Central Station by the Sweden Democrats (SD), a enactment with neo-Nazi roots, “it made maine consciousness similar it doesn’t substance however overmuch I effort arsenic a second-generation immigrant; I’ll ne'er beryllium Swedish enough”, she said.

SD had spent astir $100,000 connected the presumption run with posters that work “If you perpetrate crimes, unrecorded disconnected benefits, don’t larn Swedish oregon misbehave, you’re not welcome”.

The run came weeks earlier Sweden’s wide predetermination connected September 13. The SD, which is polling second, could participate authorities for the archetypal clip if the right-wing bloc wins.

The code of the campaign’s messaging, which ran for 1 week successful mid-August, Tokalija said, evoked a heavy humanities trauma.

‘Do you miss Mogadishu?’

SD besides ran respective abstracted campaigns crossed assorted Swedish transport networks.

In occidental Sweden, the enactment ran provocative advertisements connected buses that read: “Do you miss Mogadishu? The repatriation assistance volition assistance you get home.”

The grant, which has been astir since the 1980s and was introduced by a Social Democratic government, offered refugees astir $1,000 to resettle successful their state of origin.

But this twelvemonth the centre-right conjugation government, moving with SD, introduced an summation to astir $36,000 per adult.

About 20 autobus drivers with roots successful Somalia called successful sick successful protest.

The nationalist transport relation Vasttrafik removed the posters aft the protest, stating that the drivers had been acrophobic of harassment, and citing hazard to the moving situation and vandalism.

Zina al-Dewany, a governmental commentator and editorial writer for the Swedish paper Aftonbladet, told Al Jazeera the program was to shock.

SD often runs campaigns designed to “provoke a spot excessively much”, but erstwhile they are forced to instrumentality them down, the enactment says it is the “victim”, she said.

After the autobus run was removed, SD MP Tobias Andersson issued a statement, saying the determination constituted censorship and “election sabotage”.

Normalisation of SD

For decades, Sweden’s governmental constitution had treated SD arsenic a governmental pariah.

But aft the 2018 wide election, a governmental deadlock prompted right-wing parties to rethink their alliances.

In the pursuing years, meetings betwixt SD and the Christian Democrats and the Moderate Party took place, and successful October 2022, the Liberals opened the doorway to the SD; 4 right-wing enactment leaders signed a landmark 62-page contract, known arsenic the Tido Agreement, establishing Sweden’s existent conjugation government.

In May 2026, different bound was breached erstwhile Simona Mohamsson, the person of the Liberals and curate for acquisition and integration, announced that her enactment would let SD to enactment successful a aboriginal government.

Mohamsson, calved successful Germany to a Palestinian begetter and a parent from Lebanon, moved to Sweden erstwhile she was 8 and is known for her antiracism activism.

After her announcement, Akesson offered a handshake. Mohamsson embraced him, a infinitesimal that sent governmental shockwaves crossed Sweden.

Sweden’s Minister for Education and Integration Simona Mohamsson and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson [File: Tom Little/Reuters]

‘Bad vibes’

Many of the unit members who had worked during the SD’s weeklong run successful the cafes and shops dotted astir Central Station believed the audacious run was a effect of years of normalisation.

Ester, a barista, said its standard amazed her, portion her workfellow Aya said it created “bad vibes” astatine the presumption for the week.

The government’s absorption connected repatriation, coming amid a spate of scandals that dominated Swedish headlines this year, does not beryllium good with them, they said.

In February, the Swedish Migration Agency ordered an eight-month-old lad calved successful the country, Emanuel, to beryllium deported unsocial to Iran portion the remainder of his household kept their permits.

Around the aforesaid time, teenagers who had grown up successful Sweden were being told to permission connected turning 18 portion their parents stayed – a signifier the authorities yet suspended successful March and moved to betterment successful June.

One man, who wished to stay anonymous, was moving astatine the presumption passim the campaign, collecting wealth for a foundation providing assistance to Palestinians successful Gaza. He said, though the run upset him, helium had taken bosom from immoderate of the responses.

Angry members of the nationalist had sparked heated debates with the SD representatives astatine 1 of their stands wrong the station, often centred astir its views connected Islam and its staunch enactment for Israel.

Frustrated aft the debates, respective radical handed implicit ample donations to the charity. During the week, it collected acold much than usual, the foundation idiosyncratic said.

Al-Dewany besides sees immoderate hope. She said the SD has reached a signifier of “peak populism”, meaning the enactment has deed its ceiling. Its absorption connected migration portion the authorities was mired successful repatriation scandals has started to outgo it voters alternatively than triumph them, she believes.

Polls successful precocious August enactment SD connected 18 to 19 percent, down from 20.5 percent successful 2022.

Tokalija, whose spouse and co-parent is from Mozambique, said she was welcomed with “Swedish warmth” and curiosity astir different cultures erstwhile she archetypal arrived.

Although she inactive feels this tone lives connected among ample sections of today’s society, the rhetoric has changed astir immigrants, who are excessively often painted arsenic “money-seekers”.

Society present demands that families similar hers “fully adapt”, she added, stripping distant their multicultural and Muslim identities, and leaving a prime betwixt full assimilation and full exclusion, a prime she said mirrors the fascist ideologies she erstwhile fled.