The debate that began after the Sweden Democrats backed down in the recent election has culminated in an exchange on social media between two prominent party members.
"It's difficult to assess how serious this is. There are very harsh words and sharp formulations between influential representatives," says Johansson Heinö, publisher at Timbro publishing house.
The Sweden Democrats have long maintained that anyone can become Swedish if they learn the language, adopt Swedish culture and values, and identify as Swedish, regardless of whether they were born in Sweden or have Swedish parents. The party calls this open Swedishness or cultural nationalism.
That position is now being debated in some circles.
There are those who are ideologically convinced that a nation must have an ethnic base and think that the Sweden Democrats have begun to compromise too much on that, says Johansson Heinö.
The right genes
Member of Parliament Richard Jomshof, a former party secretary, wrote on X on October 9 that one must "dare to recognize" the importance of biological ties to a country’s cohesion.
Mattias Karlsson, who has long been part of the party leader's inner circle, warns against abandoning open Swedishness in favor of a more ethno-nationalist line.
Such thinking could, he says, open the door to destructive ideas about discriminating against or deporting people simply because they do not have the right genes.
"My firm opinion is that ethnonationalism is an immoral, simplistic and unnecessarily divisive ideological movement," Karlsson wrote on X a few days ago.
Playing down
This led to a heated exchange on Facebook, which Expressen reported on but which has since been removed.
Jomshof criticizes Karlsson for "calling those who think there is value in Swedes being the majority in their own country racist." However, he also writes that he still believes in "open Swedishness."
Karlsson, in turn, accuses Jomshof of having an "immoral and disgusting attitude."
The Sweden Democrats’ press chief, Oskar Cavalli Björkman, plays down the debate.
It's essentially a discussion between two people and some debaters, he says.
There are no ambitions whatsoever to change our program of principles or anything like that.
Johansson Heinö does not believe that many Sweden Democrats, whether members or representatives, want to shift away from open Swedishness.
However, if the debate goes on too long, it could damage relations with the bourgeois parties.
I think many in the Moderates are sighing very deeply and thinking that this is what happens as soon as the Sweden Democrats suffer a setback, says Johansson Heinö.
