Swedish election: the left-wing opposition edges ahead of the outgoing majority as the far right falls back for the first time

Beijing, September 15, 2026. The Chinese press first notes the narrowness of the Swedish verdict. According to the provisional results covering 93% of the offices relayed by CGTN, the opposition bloc — social democrats, Left Party, Greens, and Center Party — would obtain 176 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag, compared to 173 for the bloc led by Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. The gap in votes is just as narrow: 49.5% against 49.1%. The social democrats remain the first party in the country with 28.1% of the votes, ahead of the moderates at 19.9%.

CGTN emphasizes the difficulty that awaits the leader of the social democrats, Magdalena Andersson, in transforming this lead into a government. The Center Party excludes sitting with the Left Party, preferring, according to the channel, to provoke an extraordinary election rather than compromising with it; the Left Party, on the other hand, demands government posts. Swedish public television, cited by CGTN, describes this puzzle as an "impossible equation". On the Kristersson camp side, CGTN reports that the Prime Minister has promised to contact the other party leaders to explore a viable coalition during the Moderate's election evening.

The South China Morning Post, published on the eve of the vote, chooses a different angle: that of immigration. The Hong Kong newspaper recalls that Kristersson had committed to associating the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party, with the government in the event of a victory for his camp, and relays criticism that his government's migration policy pushes immigrants to conform to Swedish culture under penalty of having to leave the country, through a mix of incentives and sanctions.

The two Chinese titles converge on one point: this tight election does not offer a clear mandate to either camp, and the formation of the next Swedish government promises to be long, regardless of the final result expected after the counting of overseas votes on Wednesday, September 16.

Budapest, September 15, 2026. From Stockholm, the Hungarian press detailed on Monday, September 14, 2026, a vote so close that no camp dared to claim victory yet. According to HVG, which cites the BBC, the Swedish electoral authority credited, after counting 94% of the ballots, the opposition bloc led by Magdalena Andersson with 176 seats, against 173 for the right-wing coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Three mandates separate the two camps in a 349-seat Riksdag — a margin so narrow that Kristersson himself acknowledged on Monday morning: "The voters have expressed their opinion, but there is not yet a final result." Andersson, for her part, asked her supporters to wait for the final result, while affirming that if the trend were confirmed, "Sweden will have a new government."

The Hungarian press notes a paradox: the left is progressing as a bloc, but its main party is declining. According to HVG, Andersson's Social Democrats, credited with 28% of the votes on Monday morning, achieved their worst score in over a century. Index, on the other hand, points out that Kristersson's Tidö coalition — Moderates, Christian Democrats, Liberals, supported by the Sweden Democrats — is also losing ground: the far-right party is declining for the first time since its entry into Parliament in 2010, falling from 20.6% in 2022 to around 17.2-17.5% this time.

For Index, the stakes went beyond a simple alternation: the vote was to determine whether Sweden, with 10.6 million inhabitants, "continues its shift to the right or returns to the liberalism that has long been its reputation." The campaign focused on migration management, gang crime, and the toughening of penal law, themes that brought the right to power in 2022 and remain, according to the two titles, at the heart of the vote.

The Hungarian press finally emphasizes the fragility of any left-wing majority: even if victorious, Andersson's bloc will have to reconcile a Left Party that demands ministerial portfolios and a Center Party that refuses to govern with it. The final result, HVG recalls, is not expected until after the counting of overseas votes, on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.

Rome, September 15, 2026. The count of the Swedish legislative elections confirms, in the eyes of the Italian press, a political shift acquired by the narrowest margin possible: according to the projections of the electoral authority, the opposition bloc led by social democrat Magdalena Andersson would surpass the outgoing coalition by just one seat, 175 to 174, a margin so narrow that the final result is not expected until Wednesday or Thursday, once the approximately 220,000 advance and foreign votes have been counted. The first exit polls from SVT/Valu had announced a much larger gap, 183 seats to 166, before the actual count significantly narrowed the margin.

But what is particularly noteworthy in Rome is the fate of the Sweden Democrats: the party of Jimmie Åkesson, which had conditioned the migration policy of Ulf Kristersson's government since 2022, is receding for the first time since its entry into the Riksdag in 2010, falling from around 20.5% to 17.5-18.5% of the vote according to estimates. The magazine Internazionale puts this decline in relation to a disappointing record: the "return subsidies" launched by Stockholm in 2022 and revalued this year - up to 31,000 euros per person, 45,000 for a couple, 53,000 for a family - have convinced only 171 people as of early 2026, despite a targeted advertising campaign explicitly targeting foreigners.

The daily Libero Quotidiano had nonetheless anticipated, until the eve of the vote, a possible maintenance of the hard line, judging that adherence to Kristersson's anti-immigration policies was "no longer a utopia" while polls credited the Sweden Democrats with 18 to 19% of the vote.

Regarding alliances, ANSA highlights the difficulty that awaits Andersson: reconciling the Left Party, which demands a governmental role, and the Centre Party, which is reluctant to any coalition with it. Social Democratic secretary Tobias Baudin said he was "absolutamente convinto" that a compromise would be found, while acknowledging that the formation of a government could take weeks, or even months. Kristersson, for his part, warned that "which government will lead Sweden in the coming years is still an open question".

Buenos Aires, September 15, 2026. The Argentine press first retains a figure: according to the exit polls cited by Ambito and Perfil, the center-left bloc led by Magdalena Andersson would obtain 51% to 51.3% of the votes on Sunday, September 13, against 46.8% to 47% for the government bloc of Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Ambito details the breakdown: the Social Democratic Party comes first with 28.4%, ahead of the Conservatives (18.1%) and the Sweden Democrats (17.2%), who lose their status as the country's second political force for the first time since their entry into the Riksdag in 2010.

The media emphasizes that the Social Democrats, "the most voted political force in all general elections of the last hundred years" in Sweden, could thus regain power - despite a decline of nearly two points compared to 2022. Perfil recalls that the far right, which has been constantly progressing since its entry into the race in 1988, is experiencing its first electoral setback here.

The coverage also insists on the tightening of the campaign: the polls had given a comfortable lead to the left-wing coalition for months, before a rapid catch-up in the last days transformed the election into a quasi-tie. Perfil quotes Sweden Democrat MP Julia Kronlid: "Por supuesto, es un poco decepcionante dejar de ser el segundo partido más grande en estas encuestas. Pero aún no se ha terminado el recuento, todavía puede cambiar", recalling that in 2022 the result had already shifted during the night.

A revealing detail of the targeted audience: Ambito converts the closing time of the Swedish polling stations to Argentine time (8 pm in Stockholm, 3 pm in Buenos Aires), a sign of news being followed live rather than relayed from a distance. Perfil, for its part, relays the victory atmosphere among Andersson's supporters, who sang "Mamma Mia" by ABBA when the polls were announced.

Neither of the two titles dwells on the expected tensions between future coalition partners - the Left Party, which is demanding a government post, and the Center Party, which refuses to sit with it. The final result remains pending the count of overseas votes, expected on Wednesday, September 16.

Canberra, 15 September 2026. For the Australian press, this Swedish election is first and foremost a lesson in electoral arithmetic rather than a clear victory. According to SBS News Australia, with more than half of the ballots counted on Sunday evening, the four opposition parties led by social democrat Magdalena Andersson were ahead of the alliance of conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson by 49.3% to 49.1% of the vote — a margin so narrow that correspondents are talking about a race that could go down to the wire.

The notable fact that the two Australian titles consulted are retaining is the decline, unprecedented since their entry into the Riksdag in 2010, of the Sweden Democrats. The anti-immigration party, which had been supporting Mr Kristersson's minority coalition for four years in exchange for influence over migration policies, has fallen to 17.7% according to SBS, compared to 20.5% in 2022 — losing its rank as the country's second-largest political force in the process. Crikey, which is publishing a dispatch from Stockholm, puts the estimate at 17.5% after an exit poll projection of 17.2%, a decline of 3.3 points.

The two publications report the measured disappointment of a party MP, Julia Kronlid, quoted by AFP: "It's a bit of a disappointment to no longer be the second party in these polls. But it's not over yet, it can still change."

On the opposition side, the mood is one of caution rather than celebration. SBS quotes a union analyst, Emilia Wikstrom Melin, who was present at the social democrats' election night: "I am confident that Magdalena is a skilled negotiator [...] It may take some time, but we will have a government led by Magdalena." Because, SBS notes, a left-wing victory would open a period of difficult negotiations between four ideologically divided parties to form a government. Crikey sums up the challenge in its title: the path to a stable government for the left will be arduous.

The Australian press, which does not have a permanent correspondent in Stockholm, is relying heavily on AFP dispatches for this story, treating it more as an indicator of the decline of the European far right than as a Swedish issue in itself.

Brussels, September 15, 2026. The Belgian press is reporting a suspenseful Swedish election night, where the gap between the two blocs narrowed hour after hour. La Libre Belgique mentions "one of the surprises of the evening": according to public television SVT, the left-wing parties collected 49.4% of the votes and 175 seats on Sunday evening, compared to 49.1% and 174 mandates for the outgoing alliance between the right and the far right, in power since 2022. On Monday morning, with 94% of the polling stations counted, 7sur7 reported a narrowed gap to 176 seats against 173. The final verdict awaits the count of overseas votes, scheduled for Wednesday, September 16.

For the Belgian daily newspapers, the notable element remains the unprecedented decline of the Sweden Democrats since their entry into Parliament in 2010, previously the country's second-largest formation and a key partner of outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. La Libre quotes a witness from the social-democratic election night, "very happy" with this score. Kristersson, 62, had nonetheless promised to bring this formation into the government in the event of a victory, after defending four years of firmness on immigration and crime: "In the past, we were mostly known for our daily shootings and murders. Today, we are recognized for our entrepreneurs with rapid success," he pleaded during the campaign.

On the other side, social democrat Magdalena Andersson, 59, who was ousted from power in 2022, said she is "ready" to govern: "For now, we are in the lead. And if this is confirmed, then Sweden will have a new government." However, the Belgian media note the fragility of this bloc, composed of four parties "from the center to the far left": the Left Party is demanding to enter the government, while the Center Party refuses to sit alongside it. Kristersson, meanwhile, is holding on: "The question of which government will lead Sweden in the years to come remains open." The campaign, the articles recall, was dominated by issues of health and purchasing power.

Brasília, Tuesday, September 15, 2026. The Brazilian press is detailing a Swedish election of extreme narrowness. According to the projection of the electoral authority cited by the Folha de S.Paulo, the center-left opposition bloc, led by social democrat Magdalena Andersson, would obtain 175 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag, against 174 for the right-wing government coalition of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson — a lead of just one seat, calculated from 4,853 of the 6,312 constituencies counted and more than 6 million of the approximately 8 million expected votes. The turnout rate exceeds 80%, a level illustrated by G1 with a photo of a ballot being deposited in a ballot box at the Malmö town hall on Sunday.

G1 arrives at a similar reading based on exit polls from SVT and TV4: 51.3% for the left against 46.8% (SVT) or 47% (TV4) for the right. The fact that the two Brazilian titles highlight is the decline of the Sweden Democrats (SD), the far-right party born out of neo-Nazi movements: it would lose for the first time since its entry into Parliament in 2010, and would cease to be the country's second-largest political force. An elected member of the party, Julia Kronlid, concedes to AFP, cited by G1: "Claro que é um pouco decepcionante deixar de ser o segundo maior partido nessas pesquisas. Mas ainda não terminou, isso ainda pode mudar. Nas últimas eleições, houve mudanças mais tarde durante a noite" — a reminder that the final result remains pending, according to the two titles, until the counting of foreign votes scheduled for Wednesday, September 16.

The Folha recalls the institutional stakes: before the vote, Kristersson had accepted integrating members of the SD into his cabinet in the event of re-election, a composition he deemed necessary for the stability of his government — a scenario that the narrow left-wing lead could now block. The Brazilian press also notes the fragmentation of the victorious camp, four parties that disagree more than they agree, particularly on the taxation of billionaires and the construction of new nuclear power plants, which complicates the formation of a government even in the event of a confirmed victory.

Andersson, 59, nicknamed "Magda" in Sweden, is attempting a return to power after leaving it in 2022. The final results, the Folha specifies, still depend on the counting of foreign votes.

Ottawa, September 15, 2026. The Swedish legislative election on Sunday holds a unique place in the Canadian press, which sees it less as an electoral tie and more as a test for Western democracies faced with the rise of populist parties. According to the partial count by the Swedish electoral authority, cited by CBC News, the opposition bloc led by social democrat Magdalena Andersson would obtain 175 seats out of the 349 in the Riksdag, compared to 174 for the coalition of Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who has been in power since 2022 thanks to the external support of the Sweden Democrats. The final result will not be known until after the count of overseas votes, expected on Wednesday.

The Globe and Mail emphasizes the unprecedented stakes of this election for the Swedish far right: for the first time, the Sweden Democrats aimed for ministerial positions, with Kristersson promising to formally integrate them into his government in the event of a victory. The newspaper notes that the campaign was "fragmented and incoherent", with in-depth debates giving way to the sole question of the winning coalition. Sociologist Zeth Isaksson, from the University of Stockholm, sums it up: "Crime has decreased, inflation has decreased. These issues are not really what people are discussing. People are discussing who will govern."

For the Canadian press, the interest goes beyond Sweden. The Globe and Mail links this vote to an internal debate: its own opinion section wonders about the rise of right-wing populism "all over the world" and asks why this movement is not taking root "in Canada". Many right-wing Swedish voters, the newspaper reports, see a potential Kristersson victory as validation of policies that have reduced gang violence and curbed immigration; others judge that the invitation to the far right has gone too far.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, from Kristersson's Moderate Party, warned as early as Sunday evening that "it will be a long night", with the final results possibly not coming until Wednesday. The maintenance of Sweden's membership in NATO and its pro-Ukraine orientation should not, according to CBC News, be called into question regardless of the winner; it is the migration trajectory, which has been toughened under Kristersson, that remains the real point of divergence between the two blocs of four parties.

Berne, September 15, 2026. The Swedish vote on Sunday leaves the Swiss press facing an election that ends in a narrow margin: 176 seats against 173 out of 349, a total that will not be final until Wednesday, once the votes of Swedes abroad have been counted.

According to the projections of the public television SVT relayed by the SRF, the four parties that support Magdalena Andersson — social democrats, Left Party, Greens and Centre Party — total 176 seats, against 173 for the coalition of outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, backed since 2022 by the so-called "Tidö" agreement with the Sweden Democrats. Notable fact for the Swiss press: this is the first decline of the far-right formation since its entry into the Riksdag in 2010, to around 17.5% of the vote against 20.5% in 2022, and its loss of the rank of second party in the country. "A shockwave is probably going through the ranks of the Sweden Democrats, they did not expect it," notes political scientist Tommy Möller, quoted by the TT agency and reported by the SRF.

The Swiss press emphasizes the fragility of the majority obtained by Magdalena Andersson, who will now have to reconcile two allies with opposing demands: the Left Party is demanding a seat in the government, while the Centre Party refuses to govern alongside it. Le Temps reports the words of the former head of government (2021-2022), who had posed the choice on the morning of the vote: "Do we want a government entirely dominated by the Sweden Democrats, or do we want a government led by me, which will lead Sweden in a new spirit of cooperation?"

On the SD side, MP Julia Kronlid downplayed the decline to AFP: "It's a bit disappointing to no longer be the second largest party [...] but it's not over yet." The SRF puts this result into perspective: the Tidö agreement, the price paid by Kristersson to access power in 2022 by a few thousand votes, had opened the door to a first entry of nationalists into the government. Sunday's vote closes this perspective, at least temporarily.

The campaign, dominated by health and purchasing power according to Le Temps, but also by gang crime according to the SRF, had seen Kristersson claim a decline in shootings. The final results, expected on Wednesday, will decide if the margin of three seats is enough for Andersson to govern.

Berlin, September 15, 2026. The German press is covering the Swedish election of Sunday, September 13, as an election without a clear winner, where the formation of a government is already expected to be complicated. Tagesschau sums up the atmosphere: "Es wird ein spannender Herbst" ("it will be a thrilling autumn"), quoting outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who promises to "take it calmly" before engaging in discussions. According to the Electoral Authority, after counting 94% of the votes, the opposition bloc led by Magdalena Andersson would obtain 176 seats out of 349, against 173 for the outgoing coalition and its supporters. DW and Tagesschau recall that this result remains provisional: the definitive winner will only be known on Wednesday, September 16, after the count of foreign and late postal votes.

The decline of the Sweden Democrats is a central topic in the comments. The far-right party falls to around 17.5% of the vote, compared to 20.5% in 2022, losing its second place to Kristersson's Moderates. The FAZ emphasizes that this decline occurs even though Kristersson had broken a taboo by announcing that he wanted to integrate the Sweden Democrats directly into the government for the first time, rather than just relying on their parliamentary support. The Handelsblatt recalls that around eight million Swedes were called to the polls and that the opposition's lead, which was clearly larger in the polls before the vote, narrowed in the last days of the campaign. According to the FAZ, Kristersson did not immediately comment on the result; the Swedish daily Aftonbladet reports that he is still trying to gather a majority, possibly by trying to attract the Center Party to the Tidö camp, an option that the party categorically excludes.

But the German newspapers also insist on the fragility of the camp that came out on top. Andersson will have to reconcile the Left Party, which demands a government post, and the Center Party, which categorically refuses to sit with the socialists. The Handelsblatt recalls that the campaign focused on immigration, gang crime, and tougher sentences, with the conservative camp claiming a decrease in shootings as an achievement of its mandate.

For German commentators, the result does not change Sweden's pro-Western and pro-Ukrainian orientation, but it will settle the question of whether the country continues its shift towards a tougher migration policy, which began in 2022.

Copenhagen, September 15, 2026. Two days after the Swedish legislative election, the Danish press is not retaining a verdict but a suspended arithmetic: according to the projections reported by Berlingske, the four opposition parties — social democrats, Left Party, Greens, and Centre Party — would total 176 seats in the Riksdag, against 173 for the four parties allied with outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. No camp has yet declared itself the winner, recalls Berlingske, which details the calendar of the next few weeks.

This calendar, meticulously reconstructed by the daily, structures the entire Danish reading of the event. On Monday, September 14, the Swedish regional authorities (länsstyrelserna) began the final count, after a communal count deemed provisional on Sunday. On Wednesday, September 16, will follow the "onsdagsräkning", the recount of postal and foreign votes that arrived late: in 2022, this operation had involved 224,000 votes, enough to tip the balance of mandates. The final result is not expected until the weekend of September 19-20, before the new Riksdag meets on September 28, with a possible vote of confidence as early as September 29.

Politiken insists on another factor of uncertainty: the postal logistics itself. PostNord warned that the delivery of advance votes — a record 3.6 million, an increase of nearly 20% compared to the usual 5 to 10% — would be delayed by up to four hours in the Stockholm region, according to its spokesperson Anders Porelius, cited by the TT agency.

On the political level, Politiken notes the double-edged position of Magdalena Andersson, who should negotiate between a Left Party demanding a seat in the government and a Centre Party that refuses to sit with it — a "kludetæppe" (patchwork) that the newspaper judges capable of delaying the formation of a government by a month, or even imposing new elections. On the side of the outgoing bloc, the speech of the leader of the Sweden Democrats Jimmy Åkesson, in decline for the first time since 2010, is described as "bittersød": the Danish press sees it less as an admission of defeat than a prudent management of the electoral setback.

Madrid, September 15, 2026. The Spanish press opens its edition with a figure: three seats. This is the gap, according to El Diario and HuffPost España, that separates the opposition bloc led by the social democrats of Magdalena Andersson (176 seats) from the outgoing coalition of conservative Ulf Kristersson (173), out of the 349 that make up the Riksdag. With more than 98% of the polling stations counted on Sunday evening, the centre-left bloc totals 49.5% of the votes against 49.1% for the parties that support the government, a margin so narrow that El Diario recalls that " apenas 20,000 votes currently separate both blocs", according to public television SVT. The final result will wait for the count of the external vote, scheduled for Wednesday.

For the Spanish dailies, the social democratic victory is "agri-dulce": with 28.1% of the votes, Magdalena Andersson signs the worst score for the party since 1928, two points less than in 2022. The bloc only maintains its advantage thanks to its three allies, Left, Greens and Centre, all on the rise. On the other side of the table, the most notable news for HuffPost España is the decline, for the first time, of the Sweden Democrats: at 17.6%, the far-right party loses nearly three points and cedes its place as the second force to the Moderate Party of Kristersson, which has risen to 19.9%.

Beyond the figures, part of the Spanish press retains a formal detail: the way Swedish television staged the announcement of the polls, in the style of Eurovision, by filming the reactions of the candidates gathered in the studio. HuffPost España devotes an entire article to it, highlighting that "many have ironized that in Spain the results of the general elections should be presented in this way". The anecdote fuels a parallel with the Spanish situation, where government stability also depends on minority allies. However, the consulted dispatches stop at the raw results and detail little the upcoming negotiations between the Left Party, which demands to enter the government, and the Centre Party, which refuses to do so.

Helsinki, September 15, 2026. From the Finnish capital, Sunday's Swedish election is being viewed through a pragmatic lens: regardless of who will govern in Stockholm, what matters to Finland is that a functional government eventually emerges. According to Yle, the four opposition parties - Social Democrats, Left Party, Greens, and Center Party - would secure 176 seats, compared to 173 for the parties supporting outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, a single-vote lead that is forcing the social democratic candidate for prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, to exercise caution: "If this result holds, Sweden will have a new government," she said overnight, without declaring victory. Kristersson, for his part, has announced his intention to open his own discussions with the other party leaders, regardless of the outcome. The final result, delayed by overseas votes, is not expected until Wednesday, September 16.

The Sweden Democrats are receding for the first time since their entry into Parliament in 2010, falling to around 17.7% compared to 20.5% in 2022, and losing eleven seats nationwide, ceding their rank as the second-largest force to Kristersson's Moderates. But from a Finnish perspective, the focus is elsewhere. For Sanna Salo, senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Sweden remains "the most important partner" for Finland, and the two countries share a broad consensus on defense policy, which, she says, would remain unchanged regardless of the future Swedish executive - only a left-wing bloc victory could, she says, slightly reorient Stockholm towards development aid and international law.

The same economic reading is shared by the business community: Juho Mäki-Lohiluoma, director of the Finnish Confederation of Industries (EK), believes that the color of the Swedish government does not affect trade relations between the two countries. The real question for Finland, he says, is whether Stockholm will have a government capable of negotiating this autumn: Sweden is Finland's main partner in European discussions on a new carbon quota exchange system, where the two countries are defending a more ambitious line than Germany. Sweden also remains the largest foreign investor in Finland.

Paris, September 15, 2026. The French press is following the Swedish electoral outcome like a suspenseful arithmetic vote. According to the preliminary results cited by L'Express and Sud Ouest, after counting 6,195 of the 6,312 districts, the center-left bloc led by Magdalena Andersson obtained 176 seats out of 349, against 173 for the outgoing coalition of Ulf Kristersson, allied with the Sweden Democrats. The gap, of just three seats, will only be confirmed on Wednesday, September 16, once the ballots of the 220,000 Swedes living abroad, "traditionally favorable to the right," are counted, Le Monde specifies.

The striking fact noted on the French side is not so much the possible shift in power as the unprecedented decline of the Sweden Democrats since 2010: from 20.5% of the vote in 2022 to around 17.5%, they lose their rank as the country's second party. BFMTV and 20 Minutes report the cries of joy and the slogan "no racists in our streets" chanted at the social-democratic headquarters. Several titles, including HuffPost France, link this decline to the European context, occurring "in the context of the rise of the AfD in Germany," after the party's victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt on September 6.

On the domestic front, the French media insist on the fragility of the future left-wing coalition. Magdalena Andersson, who says she is "ready" to govern, will have to compose with a "fragmented" bloc, according to Sud Ouest, where the Left Party demands to enter the government while the Center Party refuses. A political scientist from the University of Lund, cited by Sud Ouest, warns: "This will take quite some time, they won't agree right away." On the right, Ulf Kristersson has not conceded defeat and could, in the event of a maintien, open ministerial posts to the Sweden Democrats for the first time.

Mediapart presents the vote as an opportunity for the opposition to bring down the "union of the right," while L'Express emphasizes that the outcome should not change Stockholm's pro-European and pro-Ukrainian line, regardless of the winner. The French press finally notes that this vote, held against a backdrop of a campaign dominated by health and purchasing power, is already shaping up to be "historic" in terms of the score of the Swedish far right.

Oslo, September 15, 2026. In Oslo, the press is scrutinizing the tight verdict of the Swedish polls, focusing mainly on the fate of the Sweden Democrats (SD), a partner in the Kristersson coalition since 2022. According to VG, the far-right party won 17.6% of the vote, compared to over 20% in 2022, a decline of three points that cost it its position as the country's second-largest party. The finding is all the more surprising since the SD had obtained, through the Tidö agreement with the Moderates, the Christian Democrats, and the Liberals, a significant toughening of migration policy: restricted family reunification, higher salary thresholds for immigrant workers, and facilitated expulsions for individuals without a valid residence permit. The shootings and gang score-settling that gave rise to the term "Swedish conditions" have decreased significantly, VG reports.

For experts cited by the newspaper, this success on the ground has not been rewarded at the polls: the SD would have lost significant support among first-time voters, according to provisional figures. The party must now redefine its role in Swedish political life, VG writes, headlining a Jimmie Åkesson presented as the "victim of his own success".

The seat count remains disputed: Aftenposten reports that the red-green bloc would win 176 seats out of 349, compared to 173 for the parties allied with Ulf Kristersson, a margin of just three seats that could change with the counting of overseas votes expected on Wednesday, September 16. The newspaper also notes that several polling stations remained open until around 10 pm on Sunday, two hours after the official closing time, due to long lines that the electoral administration deemed "very regrettable", citing the difficulty of finding the right ballot among the 103 lists proposed in each polling booth.

VG finally notes that Magdalena Andersson, even if she is to become head of government again, will have to navigate a Left Party that demands to enter the government and a Center Party that refuses to do so, a combination already deemed fragile.

Warsaw, September 15, 2026. In Warsaw, the press is primarily focusing on the extreme narrowness of the Swedish verdict rather than the change in government itself. According to the exit poll released by SVT and reported by Gazeta Prawna, the bloc of the four opposition parties - social democrats, Left Party, Greens, and Centre Party - would receive 51.3% of the vote, compared to 46.8% for the outgoing coalition of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, supported by the Sweden Democrats. The social democrats of Magdalena Andersson are alone in the lead with 28.4%, far ahead of Kristersson's Moderate Party, which is credited with 18.1%.

RMF24 notes that the very first estimates, published as soon as the polling stations closed, gave the opposition a clear lead of 183 seats, before SVT's refined projections narrowed the gap to 175 seats for the opposition and 174 for the government camp - a margin so small that no party leader commented on the results in the evening. The vote count, which began after 8 pm, was not expected to produce its first official data until around 9 pm, Gazeta Prawna recalls, emphasizing that these are still just estimates, not final results. A journalist from SVT, quoted by RMF24, summed up the atmosphere: many will not sleep tonight.

The Polish press is mainly emphasizing the programmatic disagreement that already separates the supposed winners. The Left Party is demanding ministerial posts, a condition that the Centre Party refuses, making the composition of a future government led by Magdalena Andersson uncertain. RMF24 recalls that the social democrats' most natural ally remains the Green Party, with which they had already governed between 2014 and 2021.

Another fact noted by the two Polish media outlets is that the 2026 campaign focused on the economy and social issues much more than on immigration, a theme that dominated the previous election - a shift that accompanies the decline of the Sweden Democrats.

Gazeta Prawna finally recalls that Magdalena Andersson, who is expected to become head of government again, broke with her party's historical line in 2022 by deciding to submit Sweden's candidacy to NATO - a precedent that Warsaw, which is itself committed to strengthening the north-eastern flank of the Alliance, does not fail to note.

Lisbon, September 15, 2026. The Portuguese press followed the Swedish election evening on Sunday, September 13, 2026, as a historic shift: according to the first projections of the public television SVT, broadcast at 8:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. in Lisbon), the time of the closing of the polling stations, the opposition — "mostly left-wing, but also including the Centre Party" — would obtain 51.3% of the vote against 46.8% for the right-wing bloc. Enough, writes the Jornal Económico, to make Magdalena Andersson "the first woman elected prime minister" of Sweden, after four years in opposition.

The striking fact for Portuguese editorial offices is, however, not so much the alternation as the fall of the Sweden Democrats. Founded in 1980, the nationalist party had obtained its best result in 2022, with 20.5% of the vote, becoming the first right-wing force in Parliament. According to SVT projections, it falls back to 17.2%, ceding its second place. SAPO Notícias mentions a "disappointment" for this radical right, contrasting with the "jubilation" of the social democrats gathered in a hotel in the center of Stockholm, where the Greens, credited with 7.4% of the vote, also celebrated a possible coalition partnership.

At the beginning of the election evening, Magdalena Andersson reaffirmed her openness "to collaboration with all parties, except the Sweden Democrats". She summarized her program: "to restart the economy, so that ordinary people have more money in their pockets, and that the crisis in education and health comes to an end."

It is the Jornal Económico that delves the most into the security and migration angle: the vote, the newspaper recalls, came a week after the victory of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, and it quoted John Stauffer, legal director of Civil Rights Defenders, who said that the four years of Kristersson-Sweden Democrats government have produced "enormous changes in crime and immigration policies", to the point of threatening Sweden's reputation as a defender of human rights. This electoral setback for the far right, for the Portuguese press, is read first and foremost as a disavowal of this shift, rather than as a simple arithmetic calculation of seats in the Riksdag, where each party must cross the 4% threshold to enter Parliament.

Moscow, September 15, 2026. Russian agencies are closely following the Swedish legislative election held last Sunday, September 13, 2026, where the opposition bloc led by the Social Democrats of Magdalena Andersson is slightly ahead of the outgoing coalition of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. According to TASS, citing exit polls from SVT and TV4, the four opposition parties would receive 51.3% of the vote against 46.8% to 47% for the ruling parties. Interfax, relaying The Guardian, reports similar figures - 51.3% and 183 seats for the opposition against 47% and 166 seats for the outgoing coalition - and notes that Andersson's party alone would receive 28.4% of the vote.

RT then cites the preliminary results of the Swedish Electoral Authority published on Monday: 176 seats for the opposition against 173 for the coalition led by Kristersson's Moderates and their far-right partners, the Sweden Democrats, out of the 349 seats in the Riksdag - 175 being needed to form a government. The channel recalls that this election is the first since Stockholm renounced its historical neutrality to join NATO in 2024, citing security concerns related to the Ukrainian conflict.

Noted by RT: before the 2022 vote, won by a narrow margin by Kristersson, Andersson's Social Democrats were perceived as the main obstacle to Sweden's membership in the Atlantic Alliance - which did not prevent Stockholm, under the outgoing coalition, from providing Kiev with nearly $16 billion in military and other aid. Russian media therefore notes that a return of the left to power would likely not call into question this line, nor the migration crackdown implemented by Kristersson, which has made Sweden one of the countries with the strictest asylum rules in Europe. RT emphasizes that the migration issue weighs heavily in this election, with around 17% of Swedish voters, or 1.34 million people, born outside the country.

RT quotes Andersson saying on Sunday evening: "If this result is confirmed, Sweden will have a new government," while Kristersson says he wants to "take things calmly" until the final results, expected on Wednesday, September 16, after the counting of overseas votes.

Stockholm, September 15, 2026. The day after a suspenseful election night, Sweden still does not know who will govern. According to the Electoral Authority, with 99% of polling stations counted, the four opposition parties — Social Democrats, Greens, Centre, and Vänsterpartiet — are leading the outgoing coalition 176 seats to 173, a margin of just 0.45 percentage points, or about 28,600 votes, according to calculations by the daily Dagens Nyheter. In 2022, the gap between the two blocs was almost double, at 0.72 percentage points. The final result is not expected until Wednesday, once the "Wednesday votes" — advance ballots that arrived late and foreign votes, which added about 251,000 ballots in 2022 — are counted.

The notable fact of the evening remains the decline of the Sweden Democrats, which had been leading in the polls for months before the vote: the far-right party fell to 17.7% of the vote, compared to 20.5% in 2022, its first decline since entering the Riksdag in 2010. The Moderates of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson are taking advantage of this to become the leading right-wing party again. A party member, Julia Kronlid, acknowledged to AFP: "It's a bit of a disappointment to no longer be the second party." Politologist Erik Wångmar (Linnéuniversitetet) attributes the red-green wave to the large cities: of the 33 mandates in the Stockholm commune, 21 would go to the opposition, a shift he considers decisive "at the margin".

Even in the event of a confirmed victory, Magdalena Andersson will have to compose with a fragile team: the Vänsterpartiet is demanding ministers, which the Centre Party categorically refuses, despite having progressed by 0.3 points to 7.1%, behind the Vänsterpartiet's 8.2%. Kristersson, for his part, has not given up: he announced that he would seek an alternative "non-socialist" majority, including without Sweden Democrat ministers, targeting the Centre precisely. The Swedish press recalls that in 2018, a similar scenario had resulted in 37 days of negotiations before the inauguration of a government in January.

This uncertainty has a concrete cost for some residents: the English-language media The Local points out that a caretaker government led by Ulf Kristersson could remain in office for several months, delaying potential transitional rules on naturalization or the cessation of expulsions related to Brexit and minors, promised by the left in the event of a victory.

Ankara, September 15, 2026. Two days after the Swedish election on Sunday, September 13, the Turkish press is looking back at a result that remained unclear until the end. According to the counts cited by Bianet, the opposition bloc led by Magdalena Andersson — social democrats, Greens, Left Party, and Centre Party — would have won with 176 seats out of 349, against 173 for the outgoing coalition of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, which has been backed by the Sweden Democrats since 2022. The final result remains pending the count of overseas votes, expected on Wednesday, September 16.

The Anadolu Agency notes that this election took place on different terrain than the previous two: "migration levels have clearly decreased in Sweden ... and the rate of criminal violence, which was very high four years ago, is no longer as high today," observes Nicholas Aylott, from Södertörn University, quoted by Anadolu. According to PerOla Oberg, from Uppsala University, healthcare, education, and care for the elderly dominated the campaign. The social democrats proposed increasing taxes on banks and high incomes to fund hospitals and schools, and support households affected by the rising cost of living.

For the Turkish press, the notable fact remains the unprecedented decline of the Sweden Democrats since they entered the Riksdag in 2010, who had instead hoped to move from external support to direct participation in the government. Bianet recalls an issue specific to Turkey: the Turkish Parliament (TBMM) had approved Sweden's accession to NATO with the joint votes of the AKP, MHP, and CHP — a dossier that had long opposed Ankara to Stockholm on the Kurdish issue. Turkish media also relayed, before the vote, a message addressed to the social democrats by Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-chair of the HDP imprisoned in Turkey.

The difficulty for Andersson, already identified by Bianet before the vote, remains: consolidating a majority where the Left Party demands to enter the government, while the Centre Party refuses.

Washington, September 15, 2026. Reports from the Associated Press, picked up by ABC News and HuffPost, frame the Swedish election less as an ideological shift than as a question of governability for "the most recent NATO member." On Monday, September 14, with more than 94% of polling stations counted, the Swedish Election Authority credited the four opposition parties with 176 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag, compared to 173 for the parties supporting the government of conservative Ulf Kristersson, in power since 2022. The AP notes that the final result "may not be clear before Wednesday," when advance votes and those from abroad will be counted.

US agencies recall that Kristersson has been leading a three-party center-right coalition since 2022, supported from the outside by the Sweden Democrats, a party with far-right roots that had moved closer to the dominant political current. This party was expected to obtain ministerial posts for the first time in the event of a victory - a first. Its decline, to around 17.5% compared to 20.5% in 2022, tempers this scenario. Magdalena Andersson, the former social-democratic Prime Minister who was defeated in 2022, claims to lead a left-wing coalition but faces, according to the AP, "a complicated task" in transforming a majority of seats into a government, due to internal tensions within this bloc.

Fox News, the only voice to deviate from the AP line, places the vote under the migratory angle: "years of gang violence, Islamist extremism, persistent unemployment" have, according to academic Daniel Schatz cited by Fox, fueled the debate on integration, following the victory of the AfD in a German regional election. A sociologist from the University of Stockholm, cited by ABC, downplays: "crime has decreased, inflation has decreased," the election being mainly about who will govern. Kristersson, cited by SVT and picked up by ABC, warned that "if all red lines remain in place, then Sweden will not have a government at all," while saying he wants to "explore a number of possibilities." The US press finally notes that Sweden, with 10.6 million inhabitants, a member of the European Union and NATO since recently, will see its military alliance wait for the clarification of an election still pending the count on Wednesday, September 16.