Sweden Democrats - Controversies

Controversies

During the 1990s, it is known that many outspokenly far-right persons has been involved with the party. The party was supported financially in the 1998 general election by the French National Front, and for the 2004 European election by Belgian Bernard Mengal.

While there are claims that the Sweden Democrats’ right-wing politics utilize racialist ideology, many have claimed that the issue is more complex. As Robert Boissonneault wrote in the article "That's Racist!" for The Boulevardier magazine, “By September 2010, the Sweden Democrats had successfully rebranded themselves as a more "mainstream" party. They appealed to anti-immigrant sentiment, but on economic grounds. There was a racism to it, but only in the sense that "immigrants are stealing your jobs" is an inherently racist argument.”