The Swedish government is considering introducing a ban on begging. An expert was appointed to prepare a report on the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution. Linda Lindberg, leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats party, said it was “unreasonable” for citizens of other EU countries to travel “halfway across Europe to beg in front of our shops.”
The Swedish authorities are considering the possibility of introducing a ban on begging throughout the country. The main originator of this solution are the far-right Sweden Democrats. – This is absolutely good and necessary – said the party's leader Linda Lindberg on Monday during a press conference, quoted by “Politico”.
Lindberg on people who “traverse half of Europe”
The country's authorities appointed an expert, lawyer Krister Thelin. It is intended to determine how such a ban could be implemented without infringement human rights and international regulations. He is to present the advantages and disadvantages of specific proposals in parliament at the end of June 2025.
As indicated on the government website, begging was a rare problem in Sweden even before 2010. Later, however, citizens of other EU countries were to come to Sweden from other countries more often, including: just to beg. It was noted that begging in many cases does not contribute to improving the situation of these people, but poses a risk of perpetuating it.
At the same time, according to the government, this phenomenon will lead to an increase in the scale of crime, as beggars are exploited and intimidated by criminals. – In our opinion, it is unwise to travel halfway across Europe to beg in front of our stores – Lindberg said during the conference. She noted that in the past there were already bans on begging in the country.
The daily “Göteborgs-Posten” writes that most of the people in difficult life situations who came to Sweden in the last decade came from Romania and Bulgaria. Some of them for the purpose of working, and others for the purpose of begging. The newspaper quotes government statistics, according to which in 2014 a total of 2.1 thousand people came to the country from other EU countries. such people, and in 2018 approximately 4.8 thousand. people. However, it is not known what the scale of begging is today. About 14 municipalities have introduced a ban on begging at the local level, it said.
One of the election promises
“Politico” indicates that the ban on begging was one of the election promises of the Sweden Democrats in the 2022 parliamentary elections. This party, together with three other parties, achieved a majority in parliament at that time and although it did not join the government, it supported it.
The coalition parties: the Moderate Coalition Party, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals also supported the appointment of an expert on the implementation of the ban. However, some representatives of the latter publicly express their opposition to such a ban. MP Anna Starbrink said on Facebook that “people in need cannot be prevented from asking for help.”
Politico, Göteborgs-Posten, regeringen.se
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