Inside Sweden: What’s next for the government after white supremacist scandal?​on July 12, 2025 at 7:52 am

Hej,

It’s been a busy week with the big story being that Migration Minister Johan Forssell was revealed as the minister whose son had been active in far-right extremist groups. I can’t help thinking that the government could have managed the scandal much better had they not tried to initially ignore it. 

It was a tricky one for Swedish media to handle. On the one hand the risk of outing a 16-year-old who’s not a public figure – on the other the need to hold a government minister, who’s in charge of immigration policy and has been one of the most outspoken ministers on parental responsibility, accountable. 

In the end – other than what I suspect was a growing annoyance in the Swedish media about the government’s attempts to avoid answering journalists’ questions – what tipped the scale in favour of naming Forssell was the Left Party’s decision to call him to appear before parliament’s social insurance committee. “Anonymous minister testifies in parliament” would have been a ridiculous headline, and we need to be able to report on proceedings in the highest democratically elected body in the country.

The day after most of the national newspapers named Forssell, he gave an interview on morning television, describing himself as a father who’s trying his best, and stressing that the boy’s ties to these groups have now been cut.

Dwelling on his fatherhood doesn’t serve much purpose. We don’t know the full back story and we can’t know the full back story – ministers are also entitled to a private family life, and their underage children deserve a second chance.

But some aspects of the story are very much in the public interest.

Here are some of the questions I want answers to: will the government give immigrants whose children take a wrong turn a second chance, what are the security implications of a family member’s ties to extremist groups, why has the prime minister barely addressed this at all (if a boss wanted to protect a coworker who’s presumably going through a tough time at home, shouldn’t they be out there taking the flak?), how will the government make sure its own collaboration with the far right doesn’t fuel the radicalisation of young people, and how will it even be possible for Forssell to be out there pushing the government’s hardline migration reforms in the election year ahead?

Forssell has talked about how he as a father is taking his responsibility by having long and frank conversations with his son. Fair enough. But this is not a story about Forssell, the dad. It’s a story about Forssell, the minister, and how he and the government are going to handle these bigger issues going forward.

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Immigrants studying Swedish for Immigrants courses will under a new proposal only have three years to complete their studies before losing the right to take part in classes, the minister responsible for adult education has said.

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Thanks for reading,

Emma

Inside Sweden is our weekly newsletter for members which gives you news, analysis and, sometimes, takes you behind the scenes at The Local. It’s published each Saturday and with Membership+ you can also receive it directly to your inbox.