The Danish People’s Party, which as a powerboker in the last government coalition, has risen in polls amid an unpopular new left-of-centre government. In Norway, the anti-immigrant Progress Party, hit by sex scandals that also eroded its image, is now the third largest party in Norway.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt arrives to attend an EU summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels October 18, 2012.
A far-right party has taken third place in Swedish opinion polls, helped by concerns over immigration and rising unemployment, and may now hold the balance of power after the next national election in 2014.
Nordic populist parties are showing resilience despite scandals among right-wing activists in Sweden and mass killings by anti-Islamist Anders Behring Breivik last year.
The Sweden Democrats (SD) have about 11 percent support in an October poll published on Monday by United Minds pollsters in Aftonbladet newspaper, double its showing in the 2010 election. Other polls in the last few weeks showed a similar trend.
SD’s growing popularity comes as Sweden, once the strongest of Europe’s economies, faces possible recession by the end of 2012 and controversy swirls over its welcoming of immigrants from crisis-hit Europe and refugees from countries such as Syria.
“Immigration is topping the agenda and this benefits the Sweden Democrats,” said Carl Melin, polling head at United Minds. The SD’s performance was its strongest since United Minds began its polling in 2009.
Another October poll by Ipsos, published in Dagens Nyheter newspaper, showed the SD at 8.5 percent.
“We may be entering a recession and this is a good breeding ground for parties like the Sweden Democrats,” said Johanna Laurin Gulled, a polling manager at Ipsos.
[…]
