by Markus Johansson

Is mass migration a foreign policy issue? This week, it certainly became one for Sweden.

A few days ago, a fierce dispute erupted on X between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson. Orbán accused Sweden of allowing criminal networks to exploit children for murder, claiming that the justice system fails to convict them.

Kristersson swiftly responded, calling these accusations outrageous lies motivated by Orbán’s electoral tactics.

But what is true—and what is not?

Orbán based his claim on a report by German newspaper Die Welt that 284 underage girls had been arrested for murder in Sweden. However, this number turned out to be inaccurate, with it actually being the case that 284 underage girls were arrested in Sweden for all kinds of violent crimes, not just murder.

Despite this crime figure also being shocking, Kristersson conveniently overlooked that fact when denouncing Orbán to the Swedish media.

But his claims that Orbán has been acting irresponsibly are ultimately unjustifiable.

It is uncommon—and generally discouraged—for European governments to comment on one another’s domestic affairs. Perhaps situations like this are why. 

But in recent years, there have been several exceptions to this norm. Sweden’s Moderates, who lead the current right-wing coalition, have criticised Hungary on multiple occasions themselves.

More importantly, regardless of diplomatic rules and no matter what Kristersson says, Orbán is right in the substance of what he is saying. 

What has happened in Sweden over the past decades—mainly due to mass migration—is unrecognisable in our country’s modern history. Our problems are thus far worse than those in many other Western countries, even those struggling with similar issues.

Instead of acknowledging this fact, Kristersson denies it. He hides behind Orbán’s statistical error that is ultimately not of his own making, instead of confronting the truth. 

In fact, migration-related crime is exactly what the right-wing coalition campaigned on in the 2022 elections. It has been discussed almost daily by the media since. It is also the very reason Kristersson works with the Sweden Democrats—to save Sweden from further despair, a suffering partly caused when his own party last governed.

Ironically, as the Tidö coalition scrambled to respond to Orbán’s mistaken numbers, a 17-year-old girl was arrested for attempted murder of a peer less than a day after the public battle over Sweden’s image. 

This does not make Orbán’s numbers correct, but it certainly says something about Sweden.

As Kristersson mentions on X, since the fall of communism, Hungary ultimately regained its freedom, but he writes, “freedom must also be defended”. 

But Hungary gained independence in 1989. Since then, and most surely during the last decade, Swedish people, in contrast, have lost freedom. Freedom of movement during nights, freedom from being harassed by foreigners only for being a Swede. Freedom of speaking out against mass immigration without having the establishment media attacking you and calling you a racist or worse. 

In fact, Ulf Kristersson’s own party, Moderaterna, was one of the most pro-migration parties in the country until the Sweden Democrats became too big to ignore. Until that moment, they had also regularly denied the consequences of mass migration. Instead of doing what the Sweden Democrats do, and speaking the truth on this matter.

From a conservative Swedish perspective, I see first an unnecessary dispute between countries that should be friends. Second, and more importantly, I see a Swedish prime minister who cannot speak honestly about Sweden to foreign audiences. And that is the biggest lie and problem of them all.

Therefore, I find it disturbing that Kristersson focuses so much on details and numbers here. Since the whole Swedish establishment had ignored statistics for decades.

The fact is that Sweden faces a serious problem with extremely violent crime, and children are drawn into it both as victims and perpetrators. Regardless of the exact figures, the collective media and political reaction to Orbán’s fundamentally reasonable criticism looks like dressing up a pig.

There is certainly fair criticism to be levelled against Hungary’s government and indeed most Western governments today. But one thing Orbán cannot be accused of is spreading the false narrative that mass migration is beneficial or that his country “would win with mass migration in the long run” by embracing it.

That falsehood is spread instead by Kristersson’s party, and it is therefore deeply embarrassing to see him propagate the biggest and most dangerous lies.