Jimmie Åkesson
Jimmie Åkesson has been described as an 'alleged fascist' and has been leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats party since 2005.[1]
According to journalist Jake Wallis Simons in the Daily Telegraph, Åkesson maintains a 'carefully crafted image of professionalism' and has a 'farmer's boy' accent which reportedly helps him appeal to anti-elite feeling among some Swedish voters. He is said to have intensified the party's modernisation programme when he became leader (for instance changing the logo to a flower) in an an attempt to sanitise its far-right politics.[1]
Views
In January 2011, Åkesson told BBC Hardtalk that Sweden's immigration policy was 'extreme' and singled out 'Muslim immigrants', saying many 'segregating themselves into suburbs' and 'build parallel societies'.[2]
He also said:
- Immigrants are, in general, a little bit more criminal than Swedes born in Sweden, and that's a fact. And you can see it especially in violence, rape and so on[2]
Social media
- Twitter: @jimmieakesson Akesson had around 68,700 followers as of 17 February 2015
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jake Wallis Simons, EU elections 2014: 'I can hear the boots of the 1930s marching through Europe', Daily Telegraph, 14 May 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jimmie Akesson: Swedish immigration is 'extreme', BBC Hardtalk, 25 January 2011, accessed 17 February 2015
