Young Swedes SDU
| Young Swedes SDU Ungsvenskarna SDU | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Spokesperson | Emil Eneblad |
| Founded | 1 October 2015 |
| Preceded by | Sweden Democratic Youth |
| Headquarters | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Membership | c. 800 members (2016)[1] |
| Ideology | Swedish nationalism Conservatism Social conservatism[2] Euroscepticism National conservatism Economic liberalism[3] |
| Mother party | Sweden Democrats |
| European affiliation | European Young Conservatives[4] |
| Nordic affiliation | Nordisk Friheds Ungdom (NFU) |
| Website | ungsvenskarna |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Conservatism in Sweden |
|---|
 |
Young Swedes (Swedish: Ungsvenskarna [ˈɵ̂ŋˌsvɛnskaɳa ɛsdeːˈʉː] ) have been the youth section within the Sweden Democrats since 1 October 2015. National spokesperson since October 2022 is Emil Eneblad.[5] According to Jimmie Åkesson, the party leader of the Sweden Democrats, the wing's main goal is to "attract young people to vote for the party".[6] The section itself says that its main task is to "prepare young people to become future Sweden Democratic politicians." They use Engelbrektsbågen as a symbol and describes itself as democratic and socially conservative with a nationalist outlook.[7]
Unlike the former youth section Sweden Democratic Youth, the Young Swedes demands that its members are also members of the Sweden Democrats. The minimum age for membership in the section is 13 years.[8] A difference compared to the other youth section in Sweden is that the delegates to the Young Swedes congresses are not elected by the sections members, instead being appointed by its national board.[9]
History
[edit]The new youth section was founded after the mother party broke ties with their original youth organization after the organisation was accused of racism and ties with extremist groups.[10][11] The conflict culminated during the original youth organization congress in September 2015, when the election committees candidate Jessica Ohlson won the battle for the position of national spokesperson against the party leaderships candidate Tobias Andersson.[12] A few hours after the congress, the Sweden Democrats decided to break with their youth organization, and a few days later the entire organizations leadership was expelled from the party.[13]
On 1 October 2015, the Sweden Democrats launched their new youth section with Tobias Andersson as national spokesperson.[14]
Ideology and structure
[edit]In-line with the mother party's beliefs, the Young Swedes SDU articulates its outlook as national conservative and nationalist. It's stated aim is to introduce young Swedish citizens to conservatism and Swedish nationalism. Unlike other party youth leagues, the Young Swedes SDU is not independent of the Sweden Democrats and functions as an internal group within the party for younger members and representatives.[15][16] In 2023, the Young Swedes SDU adopted a resolution calling for Swedish withdrawal (Swexit) from the European Union.[17][18][19]
Symbols
[edit]Both the name "Ungsvenskarna" and the symbol Engelbrektsbågen were previously used by the current Moderate Youth League after the General Electoral League (Allmänna Valmansförbundet) (the current Moderate Party) broke with their former youth organization SNF, since they had begun to approach nazism.[20]
The Young Swedes national spokesperson Tobias Andersson expressed in an interview that the Moderate Youth League would probably "have problems" with the use of the name and symbol, but that "there will be some talk about this and that it's positive for us". The Moderate Youth League's chairman at the time, Rasmus Törnblom, for his part, announced that his youth league was reviewing the possibilities of legally questioning the use of the name and symbol.[21]
National spokesperson
[edit]- Tobias Andersson, 2015–2022
- Emil Eneblad, 2022–2024[22]
- Denice Westerberg, 2024–now[23]
References
[edit]- ^ "Kampen om nationalismen: SDU och Ungsvenskarna ett år efter brytningen" [The struggle for nationalism: SDU and Ungsvenskarna one year after the break]. arkiv.kit.se (in Swedish). 17 November 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ "Vår politik" [Our policies]. ungsvenskarna.se. Young Swedes SDU. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ "Ekonomi- och arbetsmarknadspolitik".
- ^ "MEMBERSHIP". eycorganisation.com. European Young Conservatives. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ "Vilka vi är" [Who we are]. Ungsvenskarna (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Ett nytt fräscht SDU [A new, fresh SDU] (YouTube video). Young Swedes SDU. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Det här är SDU – Sverigedemokratisk ungdom". Sverigedemokratisk ungdom. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Sverigedemokraternas partistadgar" (PDF). Sverigedemokraterna. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Ungsvenskar i intern strid om Natoansökan". dagens Nyheter. 19 November 2016.
- ^ Daniel Poohl (10 April 2015). "SD-konfliktens ABC". Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ "Kasselstrand: "Interndemokrati existerar inte" [Video]". 12 September 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ Mathias Gerdfeldter (12 September 2015). "Jessica Ohlson ny SDU-ordförande". Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ TT, Frida Svensson (18 September 2015). "Sverigedemokraterna utesluter SDU-toppar". Retrieved 2 October 2015.
- ^ TT (2 October 2015). "SDU tar MUF:s gamla namn och logga". Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ Liberal Debatt (20 October 2022). "Vad finns bakom kulissen Ungsvenskarna?". Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ https://ungsvenskarna.se/
- ^ Åkesson, Jimmie; Weimers, Charlie (15 May 2023). "SD: Hög tid för en ny svensk EU-strategi" [The SD: High time for a new Swedish EU strategy]. Debate. Svenska Dagbladet.
- ^ Weimers, Charlie (24 November 2023). "Sverige behöver en ny EU-strategi" [Sweden needs a new EU strategy]. Charlie Weimers – via YouTube.
- ^ "SD-topp öppnar för 'omedelbar Swexit'" [High ranking SD member open to "immediate Swexit"]. TV4. TT. 24 November 2023.
- ^ Möller, Tommy. 2011. Svensk politisk historia - Strid och samverkan under 200 år.
- ^ TT (2 October 2015). "SDU tar MUF:s gamla namn och logga". Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Emil Eneblad ny ordförande för SD:s Ungsvenskarna". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ Anette Holmqvist (10 October 2024). "Denice Westerberg, 22, ny talesperson för Ungsvenskarna". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 October 2024.
External links
[edit]- Young Swedes official website (in Swedish)
