- The Old Country
- Posts
- The Old Country Newsletter – Vi hade iallafall tur med vädret
The Old Country Newsletter – Vi hade iallafall tur med vädret
Your Weekly Newsletter from Sweden!
Philip Hannes
June 27, 2025
Good morning!
It’s Friday, June 27.
Like a certain famous president from a certain famous nation, we’re walking back a previous rant. Consider this our very own UNO Reverse card, after months of “will-they-won’t-they” tariff talk from the Oval Office.
This is the last edition of The Old Country for a few weeks — we’re heading off on summer vacations in different directions. But don’t worry: we’ll be back in August with fresh stories and a recap of what you missed in July.
Feel free to call it a bamboozle, or why not: T A C O
Trump The Old Country Always Chickens Out.
Have a fantastic Independence Day (for our American friends), and to all: enjoy the sunshine, take care, and have a great summer.
Have a (number of) wonderful weekend(s)!
Philip & Hannes
Did you get this newsletter sent to you from someone you know? Click on the button below to subscribe for yourself. All you risk is to learn something (perhaps even about yourself.)
Your Weekly Swede-ish
Attribution: Janwikifoto, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Urban Ahlin - The Ambassador of Sweden to the United States
Urban Ahlin, a seasoned Social Democrat, has been a central figure in Swedish politics and diplomacy for over three decades. Born in 1964 in Skaraborg, he began his career as a teacher before entering the Swedish Parliament in 1994. Over the years, he built a reputation as one of Sweden’s most experienced voices in foreign policy.
Ahlin served as chair and vice chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee for over a decade and played a key role in international negotiations — notably securing the release of two Swedes imprisoned in Iran in 2007 and mediating between the U.S. and Belarus.
From 2014 to 2018, he held the prestigious role of Speaker of the Swedish Parliament. Since then, he has shifted focus to diplomacy — first as ambassador to Canada (2019–2023) and now representing Sweden in the United States.
Ahlin is also a founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and continues to be a strong advocate for international cooperation.
Statistics you didn’t ask for
Each early summer, Visby on Gotland hosts Almedalen Week (Almedalsveckan), Sweden's premier political forum. What began in 1968 with Olof Palme’s impromptu speech now draws 30,000–35,000 unique visitors annually, along with around 1,200 organizers.
The event features about 2,100–2,400 official seminars and speeches each year, spanning politics, business, advocacy, and culture . In recent pre-pandemic editions, there were roughly 40,000 attendees, with up to 45,000 daily visitors during peak days .
Participants include politicians, journalists, academics, NGOs, and international guests—making Almedalen one of the world’s largest free-entry political gatherings.
Sweden Invests $850M in State-of-the-Art Air Defense
Attribution: Wikimedia Commons
The Swedish government is buying a new German air defense system to protect its troops and critical areas like Gotland as tensions rise across Europe.
Sweden is putting its money where its security concerns are. The government announced this week it will spend nine billion kronor — roughly $850 million — to acquire a state-of-the-art air defense system from Germany’s Diehl Defence. The IRIS-T SLM system, designed to intercept drones, helicopters, fighter jets, and cruise missiles, is expected to arrive in 2028 and will be a cornerstone of the country’s upgraded military.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Defense Minister Pål Jonson unveiled the deal at Gotland’s P18 regiment, highlighting its role in defending the strategically vital island. The package includes 63 vehicles, nine of which are launch units with a range of 40 km (25 miles) and an altitude reach of 20 km (12.5 miles). The rest comprise support equipment for reloading, maintenance, and transport.
Government officials called the air defense system one of the best available, pointing out that it’s already used by Ukraine to protect its skies from Russian attacks. In fact, Stockholm has previously supplied Kyiv with ammunition for its IRIS-T units.
This investment marks the first phase of a larger air defense buildup for the Swedish military, which has prioritized such capabilities in consultation with opposition parties. Against a backdrop of rising tensions across Europe, bolstering air defense is no longer a theoretical priority for Sweden — it’s a concrete step toward ensuring its troops and critical territories stay safe.
In other news
🍽️ Sweden’s new cultural canon will also include culinary traditions, confirmed Lars Trägårdh, the committee’s chairman. Foods like rutabaga, Flygande Jacob, herring, and strawberries have been nominated by the public as part of the canon. Trägårdh emphasized that meals and food culture are fundamental to Swedish heritage, making their inclusion in the canon a natural choice.
🔥 Police have increased their presence on Käringön island in Bohuslän after several suspected arson attacks targeted the same villa. Witnesses report police boats arriving late at night and ferry passengers being checked, an unprecedented situation for the area. Three suspects have been arrested, but the ongoing police presence and limited information have fueled rumors and speculation.
🗳️ The Social Democrats have reached 36.7% in a June poll by Indikator Opinion, their highest support in a year and a half, largely due to strong trust in their policies on issues like healthcare. Meanwhile, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats remain below the parliamentary threshold, despite a slight, uncertain gain for the KD. Compared to the 2022 election, all Tidö parties and the Center have lost ground, while the Social Democrats have gained over 6 percentage points.
Would you like to feel closer to Sweden? A perfect way to do that would be to have a look at Swedish broadcasts, either current or past. SVT Play is an online streaming service provided by Sveriges Television (SVT), the Swedish national public television broadcaster.
To watch it, one has to be in Sweden – or have access to a VPN provider that can connect to a remote server located in Sweden. Like NordVPN, which sponsors this segment of the newsletter.
By using NordVPN, you can access what SVT Play has to offer – including current news, documentaries about emigrants, live broadcasts from nature events, and much more – by simply connecting to a server in Sweden. Follow the link here to get 74 % off for your first two years and three months (!) of usage. By doing so, you also help support the distribution of this newsletter.
Sweden Democrats’ New Report Lays Bare Its Nazi-Tinged Past
Attribution: Wikimedia Commons
The far-right party has published a nearly 900-page report admitting its roots in neo-fascist and national socialist movements, detailing a history that its leaders now call “disgusting”.
The Sweden Democrats have unveiled a long-awaited “white book” that exposes the party’s early connections to neo-Nazi and fascist movements. At a press conference during the Almedalen political festival, historian Tony Gustafsson presented the findings, which trace the party’s evolution from its founding in 1988 until its entry into parliament in 2010.
Gustafsson, granted access to SD’s archives, said the party originated as a rebranding of Bevara Sverige Svenskt (BSS), a racist and far-right campaign group. Of the 30 founders, at least 18 had direct or indirect links to BSS, and 10 came from openly neo-fascist or national socialist circles. The party embraced an openly ethnic form of nationalism, treating “cultural homogeneity” as its highest value. Its youth wing exchanged greetings with a “hell” salute inspired by the Nazi “heil,” and the party hosted “white power” music events that featured racist and homophobic themes.
Although SD expelled many with national socialist ties in the mid-1990s, the book documents that the last expulsion for such connections came as late as 2007. Gustafsson describes the party’s evolution as a slow and painful “reckoning” with its radical roots.
SD politician Mattias Karlsson called the findings “disgusting” and “infuriating” and said he supports publishing the book to acknowledge and apologize for its past. “My party was built in a very bad way by people with reprehensible ideas,” he stated. According to the party, the publication marks a line drawn under this chapter of its history. The 900-page book will be distributed exclusively in print, with only 100 copies available.
Word of the week
SEMESTER [seh-MES-ter]
Legacy Lanterns – shedding light on the stories of the past
Attribution: Sörmlands museum. The Lidberg family — Kalle, father Gustav, and Gun in the hammock — at their home on Ledungsgatan 32 in Norrköping, in the late 1920s.
Vacation in Sweden – From Moral Duty to Poolside Freedom
Now that the writers at The Old Country Weekly are heading off on vacation, what could be more fitting than the story of how we got here — the history that gave swedes the freedom of guaranteed paid holidays. And if you're not quite sure what to do with your time off, don't worry — Swedes have plenty of ideas for how to make the most of summer. Keep reading below!
Since paid vacation was introduced in Sweden in 1938, travel has become an integral part of the summer ideal. Whether by bike, car, or charter flight, Swedes have long sought both rest and activity during their holidays. But the original purpose of vacation wasn’t personal enjoyment — it was national productivity. Lawmakers justified two weeks of paid leave as necessary recuperation for increasingly overworked industrial laborers.
Yet, vacation wasn’t to be taken lightly. Authorities feared too much idle time could lead to "dancing, drinking, and trash culture," such as radio and cinema. To guide the public, campaigns promoted physical activity, nature, and moral behavior. Friluftsfrämjandet and the Swedish Tourist Association even published magazines describing what a “proper” vacation should include — hiking, camping, and outdoor sports.
Despite these ideals, many Swedes simply did what they had previously only dreamed of: relaxing, doing nothing, or enjoying time with family. Travel wasn’t always an option — especially in the early years, when many lacked the means. Some stayed home, swam in lakes, or visited relatives by bike. Gradually, sightseeing and road trips became more accessible, aided by union-sponsored vacation homes and affordable bus tours.
The vacation reform was also part of a broader Social Democratic vision to reduce class inequality. While the upper class had long enjoyed leisure travel, workers gained access to vacation only through collective agreements or, eventually, national policy. Still, many groups — like farmers and housewives — were initially excluded. It wasn’t until the 1940s that state-funded "housewife vacations" were introduced, often involving modest travel and educational visits.
Post-WWII prosperity changed everything. Vacations extended to three weeks in 1951 and five by 1977. Car camping became popular, followed by the boom of international charter flights. In 1955, 20,000 Swedes traveled abroad on package tours — by 1978, that number had reached 1.2 million.
As travel became massified, debates emerged. Was it true relaxation or shallow consumerism? The infamous “pig roast” parties in Mallorca became symbols of hedonism, clashing with the still-present ideal of the active, enriching vacation.
Today, both travel and countryside retreats remain strong in Swedish culture — and so do class differences. While vacations are now seen as a personal right, the tension between rest and productivity, freedom and judgment, still lingers by the poolside.