\n New stop-and-search zone takes effect in Stockholm, Swedish banks raise mortgage rates following Iran war, and Liberals celebrate Sweden Democrat boost in the polls. Here’s the latest news.\n <\/p>\n
New stop-and-search zone takes effect in Stockholm<\/p>\n
A new security zone in the Diplomatstaden district in central Stockholm means that police may stop and search people and vehicles in the area without concrete suspicion that a crime has been committed.<\/p>\n
The zone has been up since 3pm yesterday, with Stockholm police citing an increased security threat in the wake of the US and Israel’s joint attack on Iran. The two countries’ embassies are both located in Diplomatstaden.<\/p>\n
Several other embassies are also located in the area, as well as a church, a park and businesses.<\/p>\n
Police said that people still have the right to be in or move through the area, but the decision is meant to create heightened public vigilance as well as have a potentially deterring effect.<\/p>\n
The security zone will be in place until April 7th.<\/p>\n
Swedish vocabulary: a vehicle \u2013 ett fordon<\/p>\n
Swedish banks raise mortgage rates following Iran war<\/p>\n
SEB, Nordea, SBAB, Swedbank, Danske Bank \u2013 some of Sweden’s biggest banks \u2013 have all raised their fixed mortgage rates in the past few days.<\/p>\n
It’s because mortgage bonds have got more expensive for the banks after the US and Israeli attack on Iran on February 28th.<\/p>\n
“There’s then a corresponding increase in mortgage rates. It’s expected and reasonable,” Stockholm University professor in macro economics, John Hassler, told the TT news agency.<\/p>\n
The market prediction right now is that Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, will raise interest rates three to four times between now and the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
If faced with stagflation \u2013 high inflation at the same time as growth is low \u2013 the Riksbank is expected to prioritise inflation, which would prompt it to raise interest rates.<\/p>\n
Swedish vocabulary: an interest rate \u2013 en r\u00e4nta<\/p>\n
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Liberals celebrate Sweden Democrat boost in the polls<\/p>\n
The Liberals have for the first time since December 2022 managed to edge above the four percent parliamentary threshold in a poll by Demoskop\/Aftonbladet.<\/p>\n
The party almost doubled its support from 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent in the past month.<\/p>\n
So what’s changed? Earlier this month party leader Simona Mohamsson signed a pact with the far-right Sweden Democrats, agreeing to allow the latter to hold ministerial portfolios in a future centre-right government, if the Liberals and the other parties on the right win the 2026 September election. The decision was controversial and further deepened the divisions within the party \u2013 but appears to have paid off with voters.<\/p>\n
But the increase is not necessarily a win for the right-wing government, as most of the votes appear to be coming from the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Sweden Democrats.<\/p>\n
“There’s a risk that the support is symbolic, to show appreciation. When a former Sweden Democrat voter now says that they’re going to vote for the Liberals, it’s not a given that they actually will do so once election day is here,” Johan Martinsson, head of opinion at Demoskop, told Aftonbladet.<\/p>\n
Swedish vocabulary: a threshold \u2013 en tr\u00f6skel<\/p>\n
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Why are Swedes set to gorge on waffles today?<\/p>\n
Happy Waffle Day!<\/p>\n
Today, it\u2019s March 25th. Particularly devout Christians may know it as the Feast of the Annunciation, or the day the archangel Gabriel visited the Virgin Mary and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a particularly major holiday in the Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Lutheran churches, and is usually celebrated with special services and feasts.<\/p>\n
But what does all that have to do with waffles? And why is it a big day in Sweden, where so few people are actually practising Christians?<\/p>\n
You can read more in The Local’s Swedish Fika Calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Swedish vocabulary: a waffle \u2013 en v\u00e5ffla<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Swedish Migration Agency works to cut backlog as waiting time passes 1,000 days<\/p>\n Three months after the Swedish Migration Agency aimed to clear its backlog of four-year-old cases, thousands of applicants from the period are still waiting<\/a> to be assigned case officers.<\/p>\n