SWEDEN

NOT POSITIVE": In recent years, free elections in several countries have caused the left to lose power. Now SVT claims that the "level of democracy" is the lowest in the world since the Soviet Union - because more people than ever get to vote.
SVT: Threat to democracy that people are allowed to vote
Published 22 January 2024 at 08.02
FOREIGN. That more countries than ever allow general elections is a threat to democracy, reports state-run SVT. It happens that people vote incorrectly, according to the television giant, whose message is that democracy is not only about people being able to choose their leaders, but rather about something else.
- Getting the right political leaders in place, explains SVT's expert Gunilla Reischl.

"Never before in history have so many people had the opportunity to vote in various elections as in 2024. But the fact that half the world holds elections does not only have to be positive for the development of democracy," states SVT on news site.

The TV giant then turns to some experts who are allowed to problematize the classic definition of democracy, which says that democracy means precisely people's rule with free and secret elections.

Changed definition
In recent years, the media and authorities in the EU and the US have adopted a different, more modern, definition of democracy. According to this, democracy does not mean that a population votes for its leaders in general elections, but the population must also vote for liberal or socialist parties for the countries to be counted as democracies.

According to this view, Hungary, for example, does not count as a democracy, because the governing party there is neither socialist nor liberal, only popularly elected. Last year, the EU Parliament therefore voted through a resolution that states that Hungary is not a democracy but a "hybrid regime", even though the country, unlike Sweden, has never been accused of lacking free and secret elections.

Even SVT has now stopped calling democracies democracies and instead uses the wording "countries with elections" to include those democracies where the population votes right.

"Half the world's population lives this year in countries with elections," states reporter Oscar Gyllander in the SVT feature on Sunday, where the message is that the record-high level of popular rule in the world actually means that democracy is in decline.

Back to the Soviet Union
Despite the fact that more people than ever live in countries with elections, the situation for "democracy" is, according to the SVT feature, "back at the same levels as before the fall of the wall". The TV giant is referring to the year 1989, when half the earth's surface was controlled by the Soviet Union and other dictatorships.

The level of democracy is not determined by whether the population can choose their leaders or not, but by how loyal the elected government is to "the global goals", "work with the climate" and "the transition", is the message of the feature. And then it's not about the population getting to choose their leaders in general, but about something else.

- Getting the right political leaders in place, who can work for the transition, explains Gunilla Reischl, who is a left-wing academic at the Foreign Policy Institute and an expert on democracy at SVT.

At the same time, SVT rolls heartbreaking images in the background where vulnerable refugees are seen trying to cross the Mediterranean, while disturbing archive images are shown of the likes of Jörg Haider, the Berlin Wall and Nigel Farage.

A few days ago I was involved in an intresting discussion about the future of Ukraine. One point put foward was that Ukraine is been emptied of young women and children, the young men been killed and crippled, the whole base of the culture destroyed so the Jews can take over and have a country in Europe. Is it true, I dont know, what I do know is that Zelensky and his masters are keeping the war going for as long as they can, why?, that is a good question

Zelenskyj: "Very dangerous" to let Trump stop the war in Ukraine
Published at 070

Ahead of the upcoming US presidential election, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declares that he would rather see continued war with Biden than let Trump try to fulfill his promise to stop the war.

Donald Trump has said in opposition that if he was given renewed confidence as president, he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously retorted that this is not something he wishes.

Now that it's narrowing down to the US presidential election again and Trump looks like he has a good chance of retaking the White House, Zelenskyy reiterates his concern that Trump will go from words to action and end the war. It would be "very dangerous", says the Ukrainian president.

Trump has been tight-lipped about exactly how he would end the Ukraine war in 24 hours. Zelnskyj, for his part, has railed about the promise and counter that he would be able to explain to Trump in 24 minutes why it is not possible to stop the war in 24 hours.

"Very dangerous" to let Trump stop the war
In a speech at this year's edition of the World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual summit in Davos, Zelensky is now speculating about what Trump's promise would mean. The speculation includes, among other things, that Trump would give away parts of eastern Ukraine to Putin in order to make peace.

Based on that speculation, Zelenskyi determined that it would be "very dangerous" to let Trump stop the war. He is therefore giving his support to Biden ahead of the upcoming US presidential election.

The Ukrainian president, whose real reason for coming to Davos is to beg for money for continued war, admitted at the same time that he has no idea how Trump intends to end the war. It may be something completely different than ceding Ukrainian territory to Putin.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump's statement that he would "end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours" "dangerous" and invited him to Kyiv He also said that he was not worried that American politicians tell Zelenskyy one thing, but behind his back they can do another .


Demands that Russia also give up Crimea
Zelensky has made it clear that he would rather see continued war than a peace agreement that involves anything other than the removal of all Russian forces from areas captured since 2014. That includes the annexation of Crimea.

Ukraine's negotiating position is considered greatly weakened after the summer's failed counter-offensive. What could change the balance of power is if NATO switches up from the hitherto proxy war to a more active participation.

At the same time, to use Zelensky's words, it would be "very dangerous" for a wide range of countries, including Sweden, if the Ukraine war escalated into something resembling a third world war. So far, around half a million people – Ukrainians and Russians – have died or been injured in the war.