Swedes head to the polls Sunday as Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s center-right party is slightly behind the center-left Social Democratic Party led by Sweden's former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, with the election dominated by fears of mass migration, crime and the economy."Years of gang violence, Islamist extremism, persistent unemployment and pressure on public services have intensified the debate over whether integration has kept pace with immigration," foreign policy expert and author Daniel Schatz, told Fox News Digital.DENMARK'S LEFT-WING PM WARNS: 'BIG ENEMY HAS STARTED TO GROW FROM WITHIN' AS EUROPE FACES MIGRANT RECKONINGSweden Democrats party leader Jimmie Akesson addresses an election campaign event at Sjodalsparken in Huddinge, near Stockholm, on Aug.18, 2026, as part of his party's national campaign tour ahead of Sweden's upcoming general election in September. (Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via GettyImages)Following on from Germany's AfD victory in a state election last week, Sweden's hard-right Sweden Democrats are in a position to enter government if Kristersson's party wins again.
The Associated Press reported that the anti-immigration party has shifted toward the political mainstream and is likely to get cabinet posts.It has so far supported the Kristersson government from the outside.The Associated Press reported that the Sweden Democrats were founded by activists in far-right-wing extremist groups, including neo-Nazis.
But since then, under its leader, Jimmie Åkesson, it toned down that rhetoric and kicked out racist members.Åkesson, who has led them since 2005, is said to be responsible for the success of a once marginal party. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson trails in polls as Sweden holds its general election on Sept.
13 to elect members of its parliament, the Riksdag.(Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/NurPhoto)Sweden, once a model of the Western social welfare state, has been under economic strain as governments from both the left an...