A long-standing political consensus broke after the far-right parties won in Sweden

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 9 (Reuters) – Sweden heads to a Hungarian parliament after an election on Sunday that saw the rise of Sweden's nationalist Democrats, one of the most liberal nations in Europe, having turned its back on fears over immigration.

In recent years far-right parties have made spectacular progress across Europe due to anxiety over national identity and the effects of globalization and immigration following the armed conflict in the Middle East. East and North Africa.

In Sweden, the influx of 163 000 asylum seekers in 2015 – the largest in Europe compared to the population of 10 million – polarized voters and broke long-standing political consensus.

With almost all the reporting districts, the Social Democrats and the center-left Greens and their left-wing parliamentary allies won 40.6% of the vote, while the Center-Right Alliance of the opposition was 40.3%.

This gave the center-left 144 seats in the parliament of 349 seats against 142 at the Alliance, suggesting weeks of uncertainty before a viable government could be formed.

The Swedish Democratic Party, part of the white supremacist bloc, won 17.6% and 63 seats, up from 12.9% and 49 seats in the last election four years ago, the biggest gain in Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag.

The results were largely in line with conventional opinion polls followed by Reuters in the run-up to the elections, but well below some online surveys that had predicted that Swedish Democrats could become the biggest party.

Although the results were lower than leader Jimmie Akesson's expectations of 20% or more, he said at a party rally that he was still the winner of the election.

"We are going to have a huge influence on what is happening in Sweden during the comweeks, months and years, "Akesson told his colleagues.

Akesson hopes that his party, which wants Sweden to leave the European Union and freeze immigration, can play a decisive role in the negotiations on the formation of a government.

He called Ulf Kristersson, the candidate of the center-right Alliance for the presidency, to choose between the support of the Swedish Democrats for a government of the Alliance or the acceptance of four more years of Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Lofven .

Kristersson called on Lofven to resign, but rejected Akesson.

"We have been comquite clear throughout the election. The Alliance will not govern or discuss how to form a government with Swedish Democrats, "he said.

The Swedish Democrats, rejected by all the other parties since their entry into parliament in 2010, have promised to sink any government that refuses to give them their opinion on the policy, particularly in the matter of immigration.

Lofven said that he would not resign and called for cooperation between parties to resolve the political stalemate.

"There is no side with the majority. Second, it is quite natural to work beyond the political dividing line to allow Sweden to govern, "said Lofven.

The election will add to the worry in Brussels as the European Union enters the campaign mode ahead of the European Parliament elections in May, which could give more weight to the eurosceptic groups and thwart the efforts of the European Union. Narrower integration of the EU.

The record levels of asylum seekers in 2015 have heightened concerns about a social protection system in Sweden that many voters already think are in crisis, even though the number of refugees has declined sharply since then.

The lengthening of queues for critical operations, the shortage of doctors and teachers, and police failures in the face of gang violence in poor neighborhoods have shaken confidence in the Swedish model ", promised compre-intensive well-being and social inclusion.

Akesson had described the vote of choice between immigration and well-being in an exceptionally antagonistic campaign.

Voting in central Stockholm, student Katze Collmar, 32, said the campaign was "really unpleasant".

"It looks like Sweden could step into this election that we will not be able to recover very easily."

Lofven could remain in power unless the Alliance accepts some kind of support from the Swedish Democrats, at a likely cost that populists have more say over immigration policy.

But he would need morecomDecades of acrimony between the two blocs and support from center-right parties, which they excluded.