Who is Sweden's New PM Kristersson & What Can be Expected From Him?

Sweden's tightly contested general election in September has resulted in a change of power and a new prime minister, Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson.

Born in the southern Swedish city of Lund in 1963, Kristersson entered politics while still in secondary school, taking over the youth wing of the Moderates only a few years later. He quickly rose through the party ranks and became MP in 1991. An economist by profession, Kristersson served as a municipal councilor in Strängnäs municipality, social citizen councilor in the city of Stockholm, and minister of social insurance.

Having only gained 19.1 percent of the vote, Kristersson will lead a three-party government comprised of his own Moderate Party and fellow center-right Christian Democrats and Liberals.

The right-wing Sweden Democrats, which won a sensational 20.5 percent of vote and were instrumental in tipping the balance in the “blue” right-wing bloc's favor, were effectively shut out of the government, but agreed to provide the parliamentary support Kristersson will need to make his policy and spending plans a reality.

Remarkably, in both 2014 and 2018 Kristersson vowed never to negotiate with the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats, then seen as “pariahs” on Sweden's political scene, and failed to oust the governing Social Democrats, who have dominated the country's politics since the 1930s.

While 2022 marks the second time the Moderates are in power in 21st-century Sweden, Kristersson's rule is expected to be very different from that of his party-mate Frederik Reinfeldt, who served two terms between 2006 and 2014, as the new government’s plan, dubbed “An Agreement for Sweden,” was heavily influenced by the Sweden Democrats' election promises in areas ranging from welfare, to law and order, to energy.

The compromises Kristersson was forced to make earned him the image of a “milder” Sweden Democrat alongside considerable criticism for “selling out.” Others, by contrast, see this as a return of the historic Moderate Party, which traditionally was the party of the Swedish right and was even called the Right Party at one point. The party has conventionally embraced tax cuts and economic liberalism as its main priorities, only shifting to humanitarian issues in recent years.

Kristersson ran on a pledge to “straighten out Sweden,” vowing to crack down on migration and crime, to regain control over issues ranging from soaring gang shootings, to high unemployment and midwife shortages, to disorderly school classrooms, for which he blamed the Social Democrats.

Fittingly, punishments for serious and organized crime are likely to be increased, whereas the number of asylum seekers the Nordic country will accept is to be cut to the EU minimum and a previous goal to allot one percent of the nation's GDP to international aid is set to be scrapped.

This is a steep change from Reinfeldt's aspiration to make Sweden a “humanitarian superpower.”

Kristersson has also vowed to bring down soaring electricity prices. However, his proposed solutions imply a stark contrast with the Social Democrats.

The new prime minister, a big fan of nuclear power, promised to build more nuclear power stations and introduce a high-cost protection for electricity prices as quickly as possible, together with retroactive compensation for high electricity bills.

The Moderates have long held strongly pro-NATO views and campaigned for Sweden's accession to the bloc for years. As the Nordic country is currently in the late stages of negotiating its entry into NATO alongside Finland, following a reversal of its historic non-alignment earlier this year, Kristersson is expected to continue as before. He promised to “deliver” and even left the outgoing Social Democratic government’s key negotiator in place to smooth that process.

Apart from Swedish membership in NATO, military-wise, the Moderates have campaigned for an increased budget for the Armed Forces and a strengthened civil defense.

On the European stage, Sweden will take over the presidency of the Council of the EU in January 2023, and the new government will somehow need to reconcile the anti-EU tendencies of their newfound Sweden Democrat allies with the strong EU commitment of Kristersson's Moderates.

Kristersson stressed that he wants a “broad agreement” on issues that involve national security and is ready to negotiate with the opposition.

Sweden has found itself in a precarious situation with an adverse combination of high inflation, low growth, and rising interest rates forcing the incoming government into difficult concessions to manage the economy. This may endanger upholding their election promises, above all concerning high electricity and fuel prices. This, in turn, may further fuel the accusations of “betrayal” from both Moderates and the Sweden Democrats' core voters, which have been pouring in since the launch of the formerly unlikely coalition.

Internationally, Turkey and Hungary are the only ones among the 30-member alliance who are yet to ratify Finland and Sweden's accession into the bloc. Sweden has already approved military exports to Turkey, another condition set by the Middle Eastern country. However, Ankara insists that Stockholm is not taking adequate action to crack down on Kurdish groups it views as terrorists.