At its recent national meeting, Sweden's Liberal Party adopted a landmark proposal to step up work for the European Union to become a federation steered from Brussels. Should this scheme be implemented in full, Sweden will cease to exist as an independent state, ceding its sovereignty to a supranational entity.
The proposal was submitted by the Liberal youth wing (LUF). In the motion called "It's time for a federation," the party pledged to push the European Union, at present still a conglomerate of independent nations, becoming a federation.
On social media, many high-profile Liberals rejoiced at the proposal.
"The Liberals have now made the decision to work for the EU to become a federation! Finally!!!!," MEP Cecilia Wikström tweeted.
@liberalerna tog nu beslutet att verka för att EU blir en federation! Äntligen!!!!
— Cecilia Wikström(L) (@CeciliaWikstrom) November 19, 2017
LUF spokeswoman Simona Mohamsson minced no words either.
"Best and most liberal decision ever taken at party convention. The Liberals are now for a United States of Europe," Mohamsson tweeted.
Bästa och mest liberala beslut någonsin taget på #landsmote
— Simona Mohamsson (@SMohamsson) November 19, 2017
Liberalerna är nu för ett United states of Europe🇪🇺
The proposal was also hailed by LUF Stockholm chair Saga Bowallius.
Liberalerna blev alltså just för EU-federation!!!! <333333 #landsmote pic.twitter.com/JGzhTBqz3W
— Saga Bowallius (@sagabowallius) November 19, 2017
LUF President Joar Forssell noted in an opinion piece earlier this year that an EU Federation would have many advantages. For instance, it could force "rebel" countries like Hungary to accept more immigrants, he argued.
"Removing some of the power from individual governments is not a question of reducing people's influence, on the contrary, it's about making the EU more democratic," Forssell wrote in Uppsala Nya Tidning.
The Liberals, formerly known as the People's Party, is a center-right party, whose official ideology has always been social liberalism. It recent decades, it has been pushing for NATO membership and joining the Eurozone. In the 2014 general election, it harvested 5.4 percent of the vote, becoming the country's seventh largest party.
Glada gröna liberaler! Skarpa beslut för klimatet — mot subventioner — klubbade o klara! #landsmöte pic.twitter.com/qnNabcRtJf
— Gröna liberaler (@Gronaliberaler) November 19, 2017