European elections are 1st electoral setback for Sweden’s populist party with far-right roots

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The elections in Sweden to the European Parliament marked the first electoral setback for the Swedish populist party with far-right roots. Sweden Democrats, the Scandinavian country’s second largest party, came fourth with 13.2 % of the votes, down 2.2%, according to preliminary figures. That made Sweden one of the few countries in Europe where the far-right was in retreat. A political analyst with Swedish broadcaster SVT said that the Sweden Democrats’ poor showing was “the election night’s greatest sensation.” Mats Knutson added that one likely reason was that the migration issue wasn’t particularly important to voters in Sweden this time.