Week 47: Debater on the scrapping of the one percent target: "Spiritless"

The dropping of Sweden's one percent target for aid has been debated in several Swedish media over the past week. The protests in Iran have continued to be the subject of debate, for example when Ardalan Shekarabi (S) said that Sweden's government should tighten the sanctions against the country.

Sweden's one percent goal, that is to say that one percent of Swedish gross national income (GNI) must be spent on international aid, was abolished earlier this year by the government led by Ulf Kristersson (M). David Nilsson, docent in the history of technology and science at KTH and former Sida employee, believes that what the government has so far signaled regarding the aid seems to be a limited self-interest, rather than an enlightened one.

- Benefits for Swedish business, support for return migration, pressure in deportation cases. This in a world characterized by genuinely global challenges: climate, species extinction, security, demography and health. It is so lacking in spirit that one is amazed, he writes.

At the same time, he believes that the development is completely logical in a longer perspective.

- For decades, economic and political power has slipped out of the hands of Western governments in favor of China, India, global industrial companies and tech giants.

Mattias Svensson, lead writer at Svenska Dagbladet, writes that even the Social Democrats are abandoning the one percent target in their budget proposal. He believes that the party has now understood that the aid budget's money is better used elsewhere.

- The party shows that they are prepared to cut back on existing support and grants when necessary, in order to protect more fundamental public commitments. It is certainly something different from what they said during the election campaign, but still a welcome improvement, he writes.

Ardalan Shekarabi (S) calls for sanctions against Iran

The sanctions against Iran are not sufficient, writes Ardalan Shekarabi (S), in an open letter to Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M) in Expressen. According to Ardalan Shekarabi, Sweden should use "the unity that exists on the issue" to introduce sanctions against family members of regime representatives who "continue to live luxurious lives in the West".

The Soccer World Cup creates reactions

Last week was played, according to current, "one of the World Cup's most political matches", namely the one between England and Iran. The match has subsequently been debated based on Fifa's decision to deny players wearing the rainbow armband, and based on the Iranian players' reluctance to sing the Iranian national anthem that was played before the start of the match. This was interpreted as a protest against the Iranian regime's actions against the protests in the country.