Dream start for eurosceptic Swedes
By Lisbeth Kirk
A new EU critical party in Sweden could get as much as 25 percent of the votes in the June 2004 European Elections, a new poll has revealed.
The survey, conducted by Gallup and released by the Swedish television channel TV4 and by the largest Nordic newspaper, Expressen, showed that 25 percent of Swedish voters are ready to vote for the new party and as many as 42 percent believe a new EU-critical party is needed in Swedish politics.
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"More or less what I had expected", said the Swedish Prime Minister, Göran Persson in a comment to Expressen.
The poll comes before the party has even been officially launched. No name for the new party has yet been found and only two candidates have so far declared themselves ready to run in the European Parliament elections between 10 and 13 June 2004.
Politically, the new party will be in the middle of Swedish party politics and is headed by the Social Democrat and former chief economist at Nordbanken, Nils Lundgren.
Former Swedish national bank governor Lars Wohlin will also be on the list.
Since the Swedes rejected the euro in a referendum in September 2003, overall attitudes towards the European Union have cooled, according to the opinion poll. It showed that 45 percent have become more negative. Older Swedes are especially critical of the EU, the poll showed.
Only 38.8 percent of Swedes voted in the European elections in 1999, much lower than in national elections.