Ebba Bush Nobbs Okeson in Government: ‘You have no experience’

If Democratic Party leader Ebba Bush gets what she wants, Sweden will join NATO later this spring — and this fall it will be in government with the moderates.

But despite cordial lunches between Democratic Party leader Jimmy O’Kesson, the Democratic Party is not welcome in bourgeois government this fall — Democratic Party officials in the government office, Ebba Bush can imagine.

– I think it’s good to see a realist and an adaptation of reality by the Swedish Democrats in terms of defense and security policy, says Ebba Bosch.

The weather is at its best in après-ski in Sälenstugan Ebba Bush He climbs on stage in a noisy log cabin.

Who are the patients who go to a political meeting on vacation? Not even I would have gone skiing with a politician, says Ebba Bush, and she bursts into laughter and applause.

Talking about fuel prices

Then the KD leader starts talking about a “Sverigesnack” tour of the 1950s by Western Swedes who were drunk from sports and who had no idea Ebba Busch was on his way. It’s about unemployment, care waiting lists, and parents who don’t allow their kids to go home after soccer because of the spread of crime.

– which – which He goes For a different twist if you’re willing to put something else aside, collaborate, talk to everyone, and prioritize, concludes Ebba Busch.

Then the leader of Dinar shouted:

– Does anyone think it’s expensive to refuel?

“Yes!” Skaters shout in the chorus.

In mid-February – before the Russian invasion of Ukraine – the Democratic Party leader headed to Saline and Vemdalen for an early election run in what she called her “Heartland”.

The term has garnered some praise for being a reference to US President Donald Trump’s “heartland” – but the Democratic Party leader still likes to talk about “Heartland” and describes the mythical concept as the heart and soul of Sweden that it wants to protect no matter where it is geographically located.

For me, it’s a warm and loving way of describing the rest of Sweden, which is not a big city. Often you only talk about the city and the country and I think it becomes a bit of a bad concept, says Ebba Busch.

“Elite and Ordinary People”

She opposes what she describes as the “elite” who have opinions about the party’s description of Sweden outside the big cities.

Those who can sit down with a spurious discussion of whether the land of the heart is the correct concept or not, is evidence of the existence of elites and ordinary people.

Do you see any danger of provoking contradictions that do not exist by speaking of the people versus the elite?

I mean, there are problems and if you don’t do something about them, we’ll have really sharp contradictions. If you want to confront these inconsistencies, listen up and then have specific policies that can do something about it.

During the election tour, Ebba Busch grilled sausages with sports vacationers, visited the Charcuterie in Lima and the CEO of a transport company. And the Kuwaiti dinar policy that she followed when she met the voters in West Dalarna was applied above all to the energy policy.

‘A lot of nuclear power’

Time and time again, Ebba Busch talks about how nuclear power will fix high electricity prices and reduce commitments to cuts (the amount of expensive but relatively environmentally friendly biofuels that the state forces oil companies to blend) that will fix high fuel prices.

If we want to achieve our high climate goals, without eliminating Swedish jobs, getting reasonable home prices, and not competing with our companies – then we need nuclear power. Then we need a lot of nuclear energy in the future.

How important is it to achieving agreed climate goals in your opinion, given that you want to reduce the reduction commitment?

– very important. And then at the other end they try to say that they (KD, editor’s note) want to lower the climate targets. No, it is possible to reach high climatic targets without harming the population.

In your opinion, how did the government act after the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

My big criticism is that you keep making the same mistake every time there is a major crisis. Wait for it to explode before you get ready. It is incomprehensible to me. It has nothing to do with the color of the party, it has to do with a kind of leadership that I strongly distance myself from. To me, it’s incomprehensible that they didn’t actually choose in January to update the security analysis and have different alternatives on how much to increase defense, says Ebba Bush.

When do you think Sweden should join NATO?

It would have been much better to be part of NATO now. It also shows all the security risks right there with joining NATO now, it shows why there should be political leadership making decisions before the danger is here, and that would have been willing to make decisions about NATO when the situation was calmer. . Joining NATO now isn’t without risk, says Ebba Bush, and I think it might not be something you should do this week, but you can do it later in the spring.

Don’t want SD in government

The Christian Democrats went to the polls to participate in a government led by M. Ulf Christerson’s movement leader. But such a government would count on the support of the Swedish Democrats.

Can you imagine sitting in the same government as Jimmy Okeson?

– We do not want to form a government with the moderates. I think it would be better for Sweden. We both have government experience, we have a similar value community on many issues. I think we can do a lot. The Swedish Democrats are a big party and I have great respect for Sweden’s democratic voters. But you have no government experience.

Do you exclude SD officials in government offices?

– No, but I don’t see a need for it at present.

She says contacts with the Swedish Democrats are very close and take place at different political levels – also directly between leaders of the two parties. It comes to lunch or digital meetings.

– We have a good and constant dialogue, I say. It’s great, I was the first to meet Jimmy and I think that’s very important. If you want to be able to get something done, you have to understand that you need to understand each other. What I appreciate is that they are very focused on some issues, here it should be better to live and work in Sweden, and that’s what we can meet about. Then we know there are a number of issues that we don’t think about alike.

“seems realistic”

One of those issues was the NATO issue where the Swedish Democrats would likely turn. Ebba Bosch was also not satisfied with the Swedish Democrats’ deleted writings on their website that the “balance of the great powers” should be respected.

To what extent do you think the Swedish Democrats are mature in security policy in light of this situation?

It is an idea that many have continued, which is that you should not upset this balance and think that it is wrong. And what I think is good is that we see a realism and an adaptation of reality by the Swedish Democrats in terms of defense and security policy, which I welcome.