On Tuesday morning, Annie Lööf will give her Almedal speech where she will focus on what she calls "liberal democracy". She talks about freedom of expression, human rights and climate change, both in and outside Sweden.
The Center Party's Annie Lööf opens her Almedal speech by talking, like other party leaders, about security, the police and crime, but the speech then takes a sharp turn outwards in the world, which makes Lööf's speech unique in comparison with the party leadership speeches presented so far. Based on Communist China's attack on the Apple Daily editorial office in Hong Kong, she talks about a growing threat to open society:
- Place after place, the enemy of openness, tolerance and liberal democracy moves the positions forward.
Lööf mentions both Orbán's Hungary, Lukashenko's Belarus and Putin's Russia as examples of how free speech and human rights are under constant violation. Lööf makes it clear that the Swedish equivalent of these destructive forces lies in the Sweden Democrats. Lööf explains that for the Center Party it is impossible to cooperate with a party that she believes condemns Islam, criticizes public service, questions free research and fosters xenophobia and racism.
Lööf also strongly emphasizes the importance of the seriousness of the climate issue and global warming:
- Climate change is the biggest fateful issue of our time. A question about our future, existence. An issue whose acute effects are showing up almost daily right now.
Lööf emphasizes how politicians must take their responsibility and dare to make tough decisions on the issue, but also gives examples of how Sweden should tackle the problem. Green investments, fossil fuel exclusion, electrification and negative emissions are mentioned as necessary efforts.
Finally, Annie Lööf links to the current pandemic and points to improvements that have taken place worldwide during its 18 months: the United States has rejoined the Paris Agreement, polio has been eradicated from the African continent and Costa Rica has become Central America's first country to legalize same-sex marriage. . With this, she wants to emphasize the progress that humanity is allowed to make if we have a liberal, open and democratic society.
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