:Alternative for Sweden

In early April 2015, the Sweden Democrats (SD) accused its youth league, the Sweden Democrat Youth (SDU), of having relations with the far-right and ethnonationalist organization Nordic Youth (Swedish: {{interlanguage link|Nordisk Ungdom|sv}}) which had been founded by members of the National Democrats, an ethnopluralist breakaway group from the SD. The SDU had also encountered repeated controversies of its members being accused of making racist statements.{{Cite news|url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=6152111|title = Kasselstrand och Hahne utesluts ur Sverigedemokraterna - Nyheter (Ekot)|newspaper = Sveriges Radio|date = 27 April 2015|last1 = Nilsson|first1 = Martin}} In response to these alleged relations, SD threatened to expel several leading members of SDU unless the league moderated itself. SDU's leader Gustav Kasselstrand, and its deputy leader William Hahne, were eventually expelled from the party on 27 April 2015. They both denied the accusations of relations with extremist groups, and claimed that SD's parliamentary group leader Mattias Karlsson wanted to get rid of them after Hahne defeated the leadership's preferred candidate for the chairmanship of SDU in Stockholm.{{cite news|last1=Kärman|first1=Jens|last2=Larsson|first2=Mats J.|date=28 April 2015|title=SDU-topparna ger inte upp – nu går de vidare|language=sv|work=Dagens Nyheter|pages=8–9}}

Following the initial expulsion of the youth wing's chairman and deputy chairman, the mother party launched its own leadership candidate to compete against Jessica Ohlson, who was considered an ally of Kasselstrand and Hahne and deemed too radical by the SD for a leadership position. The SD warned that the party would break all ties with SDU if Ohlson were to be elected chairman. On 12 September 2015, Ohlson defeated the party's preferred candidate for the SDU chairmanship, and the party shut down SDU's website and broke all relations with its youth wing. It then established a new youth organization, Ungsvenskarna (Young Swedes) and produced a timetable that every SD member who remained a member of SDU should leave the league or risk expulsion from the mother party. Ohlson herself was officially expelled alongside five other SDU members on 25 October, but continued to serve as chairman of SDU, which went on to become an independent organization.

In early 2017, Sveriges Radio reported that SDU members had filed a party registration application to the election authority.{{cite news|url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=6628098|title=Uteslutna sverigedemokrater bildar nytt parti – Nyheter (Ekot)|first=Sveriges|last=Radio|newspaper=Sveriges Radio|date=11 February 2017}} The party was eventually registered on 13 December 2017, with Kasselstrand, Hahne and Ohlson in central positions. It was then officially launched on 5 March 2018; at the same time, it announced that it would participate in the 2018 elections. At the time of the launch, the party was described as drawing inspiration from Alternative for Germany, the Freedom Party of Austria and the French National Rally.[https://www.altinget.se/artikel/kasselstrands-nya-parti-ska-ta-valjare-fraan-sd Kasselstrands nya parti ska ta väljare från SD] (in Swedish)

Two Sweden Democrat members of the Riksdag, Olle Felten and Jeff Ahl, defected to the party later that month.{{cite news|url=https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/riksdagsledamot-lamnar-sd-blir-politisk-vilde/|newspaper=Dagens Nyheter|title=Riksdagsledamot lämnar SD – blir politisk vilde|language=sv|access-date=27 March 2018|date=27 March 2018}} According to the rules of the Riksdag, Felten and Ahl are considered independent MP's, meaning that Alternative for Sweden is not officially represented in the parliament.[http://riksdagen.se/sv/sa-funkar-riksdagen/arbetet-i-riksdagen/sa-arbetar-ledamoterna Så arbetar ledamöterna] (in Swedish) Mikael Jansson, former leader of the Sweden Democrats, also defected on 9 April, citing the mother party's recent lack of resistance to NATO as his main reason.{{Citation needed|date=June 2018}}

Before the 2018 elections, the party was one of the largest in terms of social media interactions and expected to enter the parliament after the elections, with leader Gustav Kasselstrand asking people on Twitter to prepare for "Sweden's biggest political earthquake in modern times". However, the party failed to enter parliament by a large margin, receiving just 0.31 out of the 4.0 percent needed to get past the election threshold. On election night, the party was reported to have been kicked out of the Persian restaurant it had rented to celebrate the election results.{{Cite news|url=https://www.svd.se/afs-angrepp-pa-persisk-restaurang-hanas-pa-facebook|title=AFS angrepp på persisk restaurang möttes av hån|first=Ines Micanovic /|last=Omni|newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet|date=10 September 2018|via=www.svd.se}} According to high-level officials at Facebook, AfS social media interactions were reviewed just before the 2018 election. Accused of using bots to manipulate the algorithm and inflate the party's perceived popularity, actions were taken by Facebook to limit certain activities of AfS accounts just before the election.{{Cite news|date=2021-11-05|title=Facebook ingrep vid svenska valet – misstänkte fusk|url=https://www.dn.se/sverige/facebook-ingrep-vid-svenska-valet-misstankte-fusk/|access-date=2021-11-07|website=Dagens Nyheter|language=sv}} It did not participate in the municipal elections.{{Cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/val-2018/afs-bestallde-tio-miljoner-valsedlar/|title=AFS beställde tio miljoner valsedlar|website=www.expressen.se|date=18 September 2018 }}

After the 2018 election, the party participated in the 2019 election for the European Parliament, but failed to gain a seat.

In March 2020, the party's deputy chairman and founding member William Hahne resigned from his position, after he had been revealed by {{Lang|sv|Expressen}} to run a webshop selling surgical masks for a price 759% higher than other commercial sellers of surgical masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/william-hahne-lamnar-efter-harda-kritiken-/|title=William Hahne lämnar – efter hårda kritiken|website=www.expressen.se|date=23 March 2020 }}

{{Conservatism in Sweden|Parties}}

On its website, Alternative for Sweden lists three key issues:[https://alternativforsverige.se/politik/ Vår politik] (political platform; in Swedish)

1. Remigration of immigrants
2. Democracy and politicians
3. Law and order

AfS has been described as right-wing, far-right and right-wing populist by Svenska Dagbladet,{{cite news|url=https://www.svd.se/nya-hogerpartier-utmanar-om-plats-i-riksdagen|newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet|title=Nya högerpartier utmanar – "blir en historisk kväll"|language=sv|date=28 February 2018|access-date=9 April 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://www.svd.se/inga-alternativ-for-sd--nar-riktigt-inflytande-ar-malet|newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet|title=Inget alternativ för SD – när riktigt inflytande är målet|language=sv|date=18 March 2018|access-date=9 April 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://www.svd.se/om/avhoppen-till-alternativ-for-sverige|newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet|title=Avhoppen till Alternativ för Sverige|language=sv|access-date=9 April 2018}} while Dagens Nyheter has described the party as nationalist and right-wing populist.{{cite news|url=https://www.dn.se/nyheter/politik/tidigare-partiledare-lamnar-sd-varvas-av-alternativ-for-sverige/|newspaper=Dagens Nyheter|title=Tidigare partiledare lämnar SD – värvas av Alternativ för Sverige|date=9 April 2018|access-date=9 April 2018}} Bloomberg News has described the party as social conservative and far-right. The ideology of the party has also been described as close to the identitarian{{cite web|url=https://www.tichyseinblick.de/gastbeitrag/die-situation-in-schweden/|title=Die Situation in Schweden|date=26 May 2018}} and alt-right movements.{{cite web|url=https://frivarld.se/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/AfS-f%C3%A4rdig.pdf|title=Winning the Internet, Losing the Elections|website=frivarld.se|access-date=31 March 2023|author=Henrik Sundbom|year=2018}}Stern, Alexandra Minna: Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate: How the Alt-Right Is Warping the American Imagination, page 7 During the 2019 European Parliament election party leader Kasselstrand was endorsed by the far-right European party Alliance for Peace and Freedom (APF) on Facebook.{{cite web|url=https://en-gb.facebook.com/AlliancePeaceFreedom/posts/1597526463715660|title=Alliance for Peace and Freedom|website=en-gb.facebook.com}}

Prominent members of the Sweden Democrats party, from which AfS split, such as Henrik Vinge have criticised the ideology of AfS as being too extreme.{{cite web |last=Svensson |first=Niklas |author-link=Niklas Svensson |date=5 March 2018 |title=SD:s presschef: Glad om vi slipper rasistiska åsikter |trans-title=SD's press manager: Happy if we get rid of racist views |url=https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/tidigare-sd-toppen-utmanar-akesson-med-nytt-parti/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618164455/https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/tidigare-sd-toppen-utmanar-akesson-med-nytt-parti/ |archive-date=2019-06-18 |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=Expressen |language=sv}}

Alternative for Sweden has stated in its program that the party wants to shift from progressive to a flat income tax and uniform VAT with a fixed rate. AfS also desires to re-nationalise all schools, and combat the idea of a cashless society.

==== Energy ====

AfS wishes to make the country self-sufficient and end the use of fossil fuels, citing both environmental protection and national security reasons.

Unlike the Sweden Democrats, AfS is non-interventionist and displays hard Euroscepticism, wherein it considers the European Union a threat to Sweden's independence and seeks to call for the country to leave the EU.

The party seeks to rearm the military and form a Nordic defense alliance, instead of making Sweden dependent on NATO.

During a visit to Moscow in 2018, party leader Gustav Kasselstrand attended a conference to establish connections with other nationalist parties in Europe.{{cite web|url=https://omni.se/kasselstrand-i-moskva-vill-traffa-nationalistpartier/a/l102R7|title=Kasselstrand i Moskva: Vill träffa nationalistpartier|work=Omni|date=4 June 2018 |access-date=1 September 2022|language=sv}} That same year, Mikael Jansson met with close contacts to president Bashar al-Assad during a visit to Syria.{{cite web|url=https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/val-2018/avhoppade-sd-ledamoten-i-mote-med-diktatorns-man/|title=Avhoppade SD-ledamoten i möte med diktatorns män|work=Expressen|date=31 August 2018 |access-date=1 September 2022|language=sv}}

In July 2022, several representatives from Alternative for Sweden, including Anders Feymark, travelled to Hungary to meet officials from the Hungarian party Our Homeland Movement, a party described as a "sister party" to Alternative for Sweden. Representatives from Alternative for Germany and Forum for Democracy were also present.{{cite tweet |user=AfS_riks |number=1552719171737292807 |title=Alternativ för Sveriges @feymark besöker vårt ungerska systerparti Mi Hazank tillsammans med @AfD och @fvdemocratie. Mi Hazank kom in i det ungerska parlamentet tidigare i år och ser fram emot att samarbeta med andra partier som står upp för nationernas Europa!}} Our Homeland Movement party leader László Toroczkai, as well as Alternative for Germany's Stefan Korte, both held individual speeches at Alternative for Sweden's election campaign meeting held in Rålambshovsparken in Stockholm on 6 August 2022.{{cite web|url=https://alternativforsverige.se/ungersk-partiledare-talar-pa-valupptakten/|title=Ungersk partiledare talar på valupptakten|work=alternativforsverige.se|access-date=1 September 2022|language=sv}}

The party is critical of the current political establishment which it accuses of being naive and overly politically correct. Alternative for Sweden accuses the Left of hijacking societal institutions to rewrite history.https://alternativforsverige.se/om-oss/ {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113112611/https://alternativforsverige.se/om-oss/ |date=13 November 2021}} (about us page; in Swedish)

{{see also|Immigration to Sweden}}

In March 2018, Jeff Ahl gave a speech in the Riksdag, stating that hundreds of thousands of people would be deported out of Sweden if Alternative for Sweden gained power.{{cite web|url=https://www.friatider.se/jeff-ahl-i-riksdagen-hundratusentals-ska-skickas-hem|title=Jeff Ahl i riksdagen: "Hundratusentals ska skickas hem"|work=www.friatider.se|access-date=1 September 2022|language=sv}}

Alternative for Sweden is supportive of a ban on same-sex adoption as well as same-sex marriage.{{cite web|url=https://alternativforsverige.se/politik/familj/|title=Familjepolitik|work=alternativforsverige.se|access-date=1 September 2022|language=sv}} The party has described same-sex marriage as a "modern construction intended to commit violence against multi-thousand-year-old traditions".{{cite web|url=https://tatillbakakyrkan.nu/program/svenska-kyrkan-och-aktenskapet/|title=Svenska kyrkan och äktenskapet|work=tatillbakakyrkan.nu|access-date=1 September 2022|language=sv}} Alternative for Sweden has accused Stockholm Pride of sexualising minors.{{cite web|url=https://omni.se/hogerextremt-parti-haller-mote-intill-prideparaden/a/47ynpV|title=Högerextremt parti håller möte intill Prideparaden|work=Omni|date=2 August 2022 |access-date=1 September 2022|language=sv}}

=== Membership ===

{{Historical population

|title=Historical membership in 1-year intervals, 2018–Present

|cols=1

|percentages =

|2018|2,057

|2019|1,742

|2020|2,204

|2021|2,726

|2022|3,100

|source{{cite web|url=https://alternativforsverige.se/over-3000-medlemmar-i-alternativ-for-sverige/|publisher=Alternative for Sweden|access-date=20 September 2022|title=Historical Membership Numbers}}

}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website}}

{{Political parties in Sweden}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2017 establishments in Sweden

Category:Alt-right organizations

Category:Alternative for Germany spinoff

Category:Anti-American sentiment in Europe

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Category:Conservative parties in Sweden

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Category:Eurosceptic parties in Sweden

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Category:Far-right politics in Sweden

Category:Minor political parties in Sweden

Category:Nationalist parties in Sweden

Category:Opposition to same-sex marriage in Europe

Category:Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Europe

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Category:Identitarian movement