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Sweden, the country of origin of the Nobel Prize, is facing political problems.
The two main political alliances failed to secure a clear majority in Sunday's elections.
The ruling coalition, representing the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Left Party, won the most votes. The center-right alliance of the opposition finished in second place. Each party received just over 40% of the votes.
The Swedish Democrats, a party linked to white extremists, finished in third place. He won 17.6% of the vote. This represented 13% of the 2014 elections.
Swedish Democrats have won because of voters' concerns about the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have immigrated to the country in recent years. The party wants Sweden to leave the European Union.
Swedish Democrats are working to change the image of the party as a movement working for Nazi policies. The Nazi party led Germany in the years before and including the Second World War.
Prime Minister predicts he will remain in power
After Sunday's vote, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofve said he would remain in office. His party – the Social Democrats – won the most votes. Lofve has led the government since 2014.
The Social Democrats have rejected any possible cooperation with the Swedish Democrats to form a government, said Interior Minister Anders Ygenam. He predicted that the Social Democrats will remain in power.
"I think it has to be the biggest party in Sweden that forms a government, historically it has always been like that in Sweden," he said. "The main parties will try to form a government that could" take weeks, months. "The Swedish news agency TT commented.
Swedish Democrats said that they could not be ignored in coalition talks and promised to use their influence.
"This holiday has increased … everything is about us," said its leader Jimmie Akesson, during the election night. "I'm ready to talk to others."
Lofven told supporters that the election had presented "a situation that all responsible parties face," adding that "a party with roots in Nazism" would never offer nothing responsible, but hatred.
"We have a moral responsibility, we have to pull together all the forces for good," he said.
Effect of migration on Swedish politics
Sweden has been militarily neutral for almost 200 years. It has been known for its usually open doors to migrants and refugees. Sunday's election was the first since Sweden's 10 million inhabitants welcomed a record number of 163,000 refugees in 2015. per inhabitant from any European country.
This followed the earlier arrival of hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers.
Since 2015, the Swedish government has strongly restricted immigration. But many Swedes say their country can not deal with so many newcomers, including many Muslims from Africa and the Middle East.
The growing strength of Swedish Democrats also shows how old ways of thinking are collapsing.
Only a few years ago, Swedes would be denounced as racist for suggesting that the country had limits on the number of migrants it had to take. They would also be criticized for having expressed the belief that it is difficult to to integrate Africans and Arabs in Swedish society. But people are increasingly expressing such ideas, which reinforces the support of the Swedish Democrats.
I am Susan Shand.
The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the AP report for Learning English. The editor was George Grow.
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Words in this story
backlash – not. strong public reaction against something
per inhabitant – adj. by or for each person
to integrate – v. to unite to something else
migrant – not. someone who moves from one place to another, usually for economic reasons
