But victory would be a great relief for the social democratic leader and her political allies in other left-wing parties in Swedish politics. Andersson was ousted from office in elections four years ago and spent the intervening period leading the opposition. For months, his bloc – which includes the communist-rooted Left Party as well as the Greens – had enjoyed a comfortable lead in the polls. But that lead shrank sharply in the final two weeks of the campaign, and a poll on the eve of the vote put the two rival blocs in a tie. Kristersson’s right-wing allies may wonder whether he made a mistake in trying to collaborate so closely with such controversial partners as the far-right Sweden Democrats and their leader Jimmie Åkesson. The prime minister told POLITICO he trusted Åkesson because the two had worked well together for four years, with the Sweden Democrats supporting the government in parliament without formally having ministers in the cabinet. Kristersson and Åkesson tried to persuade voters that they deserved another term to finish the work they started, especially reducing violent crime and immigration. But Andersson argued that many voters had opposed the Kristersson government’s moves to expel from the country young people who had attended Swedish schools, spoke the language fluently and had made their lives in Sweden. “People think that’s stupid and inhumane,” he told POLITICO on Sunday. It didn’t help Kristersson’s cause that his side was forced to fight accusations of Russian infiltration in the final days of the campaign. In an earlier interview with POLITICO, Andersson demanded that Kristersson clarify allegations that the associate of a senior Sweden Democrats official had promoted pro-Russian narratives and linked to a Russian state group.
