Information Center on National Minorities

The plan gives Sweden a special task to strengthen national minorities' rights to identity, language and cultural heritage and demands that knowledge be built up and disseminated about minorities' conditions. Information centers for more national minorities is a concrete way to do exactly that and to strengthen cooperation between groups. The plan does not mention the form, so the conclusion is derived from the commitment to knowledge and rights.

• minorities' rightsdecisive»de nationella minoriteternas rättigheter till identitet, språk, kulturarv« (party programme ↗)“national minorities' rights to identity, language, cultural heritage”
• disseminate knowledge»Sverige behöver överhuvudtaget bygga upp och sprida kunskap om« (party programme ↗)“Sweden needs to build up and disseminate knowledge about”
• special task for minorities»Sverige har en särskild uppgift att stärka urfolks och« (party programme ↗)“Sweden has a special task to strengthen indigenous peoples' and”

The party programme emphasises rights for national minorities and cultural diversity with active exchange across linguistic and cultural boundaries as own goals, and wants to expand cultural infrastructure with more meeting places locally, regionally and nationally. An information centre for all national minorities is such infrastructure for knowledge and cooperation. The plan therefore supports the demand, but does not mention the measure.

• minorities' rightsdecisive»Rättigheter för nationella minoriteter.« (party programme ↗)“Rights for national minorities.”
• exchange between groups»Kulturell mångfald med aktivt utbyte över språkliga, nationella och kulturella gränser.« (party programme ↗)“Cultural diversity with active exchange across linguistic, national and cultural boundaries.”
• cultural infrastructure»Kulturell infrastruktur med fler samlingslokaler och andra mötesplatser – lokalt,« (party programme ↗)“Cultural infrastructure with more gathering places and other meeting places – locally,”
• against racism and discrimination»Bekämpande av rasism och diskriminering.« (party programme ↗)“Combating racism and discrimination.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan commits to strengthening the rights of national minorities and states that society has a responsibility to strengthen the conditions for their languages and culture. An information centre for other minorities is a concrete way to fulfil that responsibility and to make knowledge about the minorities accessible. The plan also emphasizes responsibility for learning from history and ensuring minorities' influence.

• strengthened minority rightsdecisive»stärka nationella minoriteters och urfolket samernas rättigheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“strengthen the rights of national minorities and the Sami indigenous people”
• society's responsibility for minority languages»Samhället har ett ansvar att stärka förutsättningarna för detta.« (party programme ↗)“Society has a responsibility to strengthen the conditions for this.”
• knowledge of minorities' history»Vi har ett stort ansvar att lära oss av historien« (party programme ↗)“We have a great responsibility to learn from history”

The election manifesto commits to strengthening minority protection and the status of minority languages, and to working for a Sweden where no one is disadvantaged because of ethnic origin. An information centre that makes knowledge about the national minorities accessible serves that purpose. However, the plan says nothing about that specific institutional form, so the conclusion rests on a general principle.

• strengthened minority protectiondecisive»Vi vill stärka bland annat äganderätten, diskrimineringsförbudet, minoritetsskyddet och minoritetsspråkens ställning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to strengthen, among other things, property rights, the prohibition on discrimination, minority protection, and the status of minority languages”
• no one disadvantaged by ethnic origin»Vi måste fortsätta arbetet för ett Sverige där ingen missgynnas på grund av kön, härkomst eller funktionsnedsättning, ett Sverige där kulturen, medierna och akademin är fri, ett Sverige där alla behövs.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We must continue working for a Sweden where no one is disadvantaged because of gender, ethnic origin, or disability, a Sweden where culture, media, and academia are free, a Sweden where everyone is needed.”
• counter structural racism»Diskriminering, strukturell rasism och intolerans, i alla dess former, ska motverkas.« (party programme ↗)“Discrimination, structural racism, and intolerance, in all its forms, must be countered.”
• diversity as strength»Det är en styrka att leva i ett mångkulturellt samhälle.« (party programme ↗)“It is a strength to live in a multicultural society.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan establishes that the public sector shall support a language, culture and media offering with minority language profile and that schools shall give all students knowledge about Sweden's indigenous people, national minorities and minority languages. Information centers for more minorities is a means for precisely this knowledge-spreading and cooperation. The plan also requires that minorities' position is maintained and that minority languages can be used toward authorities.

• public support for minority culturedecisive»Det offentliga ska understödja ett språk-, kultur- och medieutbud med minoritetsspråksprofil.« (party programme ↗)“The public sector shall support a language, culture and media offering with minority language profile.”
• knowledge about national minorities»Skolan ska ge alla elever kunskap om Sveriges urfolk, nationella minoriteter och minoritetsspråk.« (party programme ↗)“Schools shall give all students knowledge about Sweden's indigenous people, national minorities and minority languages.”
• minorities' position maintained»Samernas, sverigefinnarnas, tornedalingarnas, judarnas och romernas ställning som nationella minoriteter och samernas ställning som urfolk ska upprätthållas.« (party programme ↗)“The Sámi, Swedish Finns, Tornedalians, Jews and Roma's position as national minorities and the Sámi's position as an indigenous people shall be maintained.”
• minority languages toward authorities»Individens möjligheter att använda minoritetsspråk i kontakten med myndigheter ska stärkas.« (party programme ↗)“The individual's possibilities to use minority languages in contact with authorities shall be strengthened.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The party programme makes it a central public task to support minorities' own efforts to maintain and further develop their cultural features, and requires that these groups' needs are considered in all parts of the country and at all levels of the public sector. An information centre for the national minorities is such cultural infrastructure that the state according to the plan is responsible for throughout the country. The demand is supported, but the plan mentions no particular centres.

• public support for minorities' culturedecisive»Det är en central offentlig uppgift att stödja minoriteters egna insatser för att behålla och vidareutveckla de kulturella drag som de själva anser viktiga.« (party programme ↗)“It is a central public task to support minorities' own efforts to maintain and further develop the cultural features they themselves consider important.”
• minorities' interests considered»Det är viktigt att dessa gruppers behov och intressen beaktas i alla delar av landet och på alla nivåer i den offentliga sektorn.« (party programme ↗)“It is important that these groups' needs and interests are considered in all parts of the country and at all levels of the public sector.”
• state cultural infrastructure»Staten ska ansvara för det som brukar benämnas en kulturell infrastruktur, i hela landet.« (party programme ↗)“The state shall be responsible for what is usually called a cultural infrastructure, throughout the country.”
• national minorities' rights»Genom att tillerkänna samer, sverigefinländare, tornedalingar, romer och judar språkliga och etniska rättigheter stärks deras självtillit och kulturella identitet.« (party programme ↗)“By recognising the Sami, Swedish Finns, Tornedals, Roma and Jews linguistic and ethnic rights their self-confidence and cultural identity are strengthened.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan contains no commitments on national minorities or information centres for them. The closest principles are that politics must prioritize and make choices, that a large state leads to a weaker society and that state expenditure shall decrease. Establishing several new state-financed centres goes against that stance, even though the position rests only on general principles.

• prioritize core tasksdecisive»Politiken har en viktig uppgift att prioritera och välja bort« (party programme ↗)“Politics has an important task to prioritize and make choices”
• limited state»En stor stat leder till ett svagare samhälle.« (party programme ↗)“A large state leads to a weaker society.”
• reduced state expenditure»Statens utgifter ska minska – vi ska stoppa slöseriet med skattepengar« (2022 manifesto ↗)“State expenditure shall decrease – we shall stop wasting tax money”

The counter-proposal wants to establish new information centres for all national minorities. The plan's leading commitment in the public sector is opposite: the number of authorities shall decrease, waste shall be stopped and public spending shall be concentrated on the heart of welfare with clear citizen benefit for every initiative. The plan does protect minorities' cultural values, but gives no support for new state information bodies. The conclusion is derived and uncertain.

• fewer authoritiesdecisive»Stoppa slöseriet inom myndigheterna och slå samman myndigheter« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Stop waste within the authorities and merge authorities”
• concentrate spending on welfare»Sverigedemokraterna vill koncentrera de offentliga utgifterna till välfärdens hjärta och begära tydlig medborgarnytta för alla satsningar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats want to concentrate public spending on the heart of welfare and demand clear citizen benefit for all initiatives.”
• authority growth before citizen benefit»Antalet myndigheter blir ständigt fler och politiska prestigeprojekt, som höghastighetståg och EU-fonder, prioriteras före medborgarnyttan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The number of authorities continuously increases and political prestige projects, such as high-speed rail and EU funds, are prioritised before citizen benefit.”
• protect minorities' cultural values»Urfolkens ställning och kulturella värden ska värnas i den utrikespolitiska inriktningen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Indigenous peoples' position and cultural values shall be protected in the foreign policy direction.”