Sweden’s PM channels Trump saying he wants to ‘make Sweden great again’ ahead of election – Europe live | Europe
Sweden’s PM channels Trump as he wants to ‘make Sweden great again’
Channeling his Donald Trump spirit, Sweden’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson told AFP that he hoped to secure a second term in this Sunday’s parliamentary election to “make Sweden great again.”
Kristersson has led a three-party centre-right coalition since 2022, which relies on outside support from the far-right Sweden Democrats. If the right bloc wins, the party is expected to join the government for the first time in history.
But polls suggest that a centre-left opposition bloc of former PM Magdalena Andersson is slightly ahead, with a combined 50.8% of vote share, compared to 47.6% for the centre-right and far-right parties.
The vote on Sunday is expected to be very close, and it may take weeks before we know who will form the next government as political talks are likely to be fraught and take time.
Key events
Russia targets Kyiv petrol stations for first time with jet-powered drones
Amy Hawkins
in Kyiv
Petrol stations in Kyiv have been hit by jet-powered drones in a wave of targeted Russian attacks as the bombardment of Ukraine’s capital enters a new phase of intensity.
At least two people were killed and 12 injured in strikes on two petrol stations on Friday morning, according to the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
The rush-hour strikes follow a similar attack on a petrol station on Thursday, the first of its kind in the capital.
At the Ukrnafta petrol station in the Pochaina neighbourhood in northern Kyiv, bystanders said three people had been injured in Friday’s blast – the manager of a nearby car wash, his wife and the driver of a passing car. The blown-out vehicle was stranded by the side of the road, its windows shattered and seats spattered in blood.
Witnesses said they had heard two explosions, and local authorities later said Russia had carried out a double-tap attack on the facility.
“This is probably one of the most difficult periods of the war because life is just like on a rollercoaster,” said Anastasiia Demchenko, 30, who works at a delivery company opposite the petrol station. “It feels like life is on the edge.”
All three strikes targeted petrol stations operated by Ukrnafta, a state-owned oil and natural gas extraction company.
Sergiy Fedorenko, the acting head of Naftogaz, Ukrnafta’s parent company, said: “There is, and can be, no military objective behind such attacks. This is terror directed at the civilian population, at peaceful people.”
Jakub Krupa
Let’s go back to Ukraine and get you the latest from our correspondent, Amy Hawkins, in Kyiv.
New Swedish election poll shows margin of just 0.3pp between blocs
Highlighting just how close the margins are likely to be on Sunday, the latest DN/Ipsos poll shows a difference of just… 0.3 percentage points between the centre-left and the centre-right to far-right blocs.
If confirmed, it would give the opposition 175 seats in the new parliament, just one more than the current government.
It will be really close.
Economy, education, climate, integration and healthcare to feature in final Swedish TV debate
Later tonight, the leaders of the eight main political parties will face off in the final televised debate ahead of Sunday’s vote.
The discussion will focus on the economy, education, climate, integration and healthcare, according to the Swedish public broadcaster SVT.
SVT somewhat proudly noted that it has a history in hosting the final debates in each race, going back to 1960.
While the Swedish campaign focused on a range of issues including Sweden’s welfare state, immigration and crime, there was no single dominant issue, experts said.
“Nothing has really stuck, it’s been sort of unsatisfactory in that sense,” Nicholas Aylott, an associate professor at Södertörn University, told Reuters.
The centre-left opposition looked set to win, albeit by a narrower margin than seen in polls during early summer, Aylott said.
Jakub Krupa
Save the date for Sunday night as I will bring you everything – polls, analysis and what’s next – live from Stockholm on here, on Europe Live.
Sweden’s PM channels Trump as he wants to ‘make Sweden great again’
Channeling his Donald Trump spirit, Sweden’s prime minister Ulf Kristersson told AFP that he hoped to secure a second term in this Sunday’s parliamentary election to “make Sweden great again.”
Kristersson has led a three-party centre-right coalition since 2022, which relies on outside support from the far-right Sweden Democrats. If the right bloc wins, the party is expected to join the government for the first time in history.
But polls suggest that a centre-left opposition bloc of former PM Magdalena Andersson is slightly ahead, with a combined 50.8% of vote share, compared to 47.6% for the centre-right and far-right parties.
The vote on Sunday is expected to be very close, and it may take weeks before we know who will form the next government as political talks are likely to be fraught and take time.
Meanwhile, Kyiv mayor Klitschko said the number of people injured in today’s attacks on the capital has gone up to 12, including a child.
Seven people remain hospitalised, he said.
EU assessing whether Ukraine faces a funding shortfall amid calls to use frozen Russian assets
Jennifer Rankin
in Brussels
The European Commission has said it is assessing whether Ukraine has a funding shortfall, amid renewed pressure to use Russia’s frozen assets to aid Kyiv.
Last year EU leaders agreed to take out a €90bn loan for Ukraine, after an alternative plan to fund Kyiv via Russian frozen assets in the bloc failed to win unanimous support.
The EU executive was asked about a report in the Financial Times, which said it had resumed work on options to use the Russian assets, largely held at Euroclear in Brussels.
The Commission’s chief spokesperson, Paulo Pinho, downplayed, but did not deny, the FT report, saying the main focus was getting Ukraine funds from the €90bn loan.
“That [frozen assets] is not a primary focus. We have worked extensively on this and now the focus is somewhere else.”
Ukraine surprised EU backers last month when it said it was facing a $27bn shortfall that needed to be filled to keep its war effort going.
This week the EU economy commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis met Ukraine’s prime minister, Sergii Koretskyi, and IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva “specifically to have an understanding of the fiscal developments in Ukraine” commission spokesperson Balazs Ujvari said.
The result of those meetings, the spokesperson said, is that additional work will be needed, “notably also at the technical level, in order to better understand how the fiscal situation is evolving in Ukraine and whether there is potentially, an emerging financing gap”.
He said:
“So we’ve got to carry out that work first. We need to establish the needs before we can potentially discuss ways of addressing it.”
The call for more money has reopened the question of tapping Russia’s assets. More than 120 MEPs this week endorsed a proposal by the centrist Renew group that would make the EU the custodian of the Russian assets, rather than Euroclear and other institutions holding the funds. This seeks to address Belgium’s fears of being left alone to face financial and political consequences of the asset plan.
“The immobilised Russian accounts should be transferred to a new EU instrument acting as a custodian and shouldering all legal obligations to the Central Bank of Russia,” the letter stated.
The commission said it was looking into the proposal.
EU pays out €6.1bn to Ukraine to fund air defence, other supplies
Meanwhile, the European Commission approved an additional disbursement of €6.1bn to Ukraine from its 90bn loan, which can be used to buy urgently needed Patriot air defence missiles and other supplies.
“Ukraine’s military edge depends on the rapid availability of critical products in the required quantities and within very short timeframes. Accelerating EU deliveries through destocking, reprioritising orders and ramping up the production remains crucial,” the commission said.
“Funded under the €90bn Ukraine Support Loan, the package includes five derogations from standard eligibility conditions: three for Ukrainian-made drones and components exceeding cost thresholds, and two for US-made equipment, in particular PAC-3 missiles, including via the Nato-coordinated PURL mechanism,” it added.
Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said:
“With this approval, Ukraine can now also purchase the Patriot equipment it needs to better protect its skies from Russia’s indiscriminate attacks. Together with our Member States and Nato, we will continue to deliver for Ukraine while strengthening Europe’s own defence.”
The Russian state news agency RIA has cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who has threatened that Lithuanian territory may “come into the sights” of Russia’s nuclear arsenal should Vilnius decide to host similar Nato weapons.
Reuters reports Lithuania earlier this year said it would move to remove a prohibition on the deployment of nuclear weapons from its constitution by the end of the year.
Ukrainian oil company Ukrnafta confirmed two of its petrol stations were hit simultaneously on Friday morning.
“This is yet another deliberate strike on civilian facilities that provide people with fuel and essential goods,” CEO Bogdan Kukura wrote on social media.
“There is no military objective in such attacks. This is terror against the civilian population,” AFP reports he added.
The number of people injured in this morning’s attack has gone up to eight, Klitschko just said.
Two dead, six injured in Kyiv petrol station attack
Two people have died and up to six were injured in this morning’s Russian attack on a petrol station in Kyiv, city mayor Wladimir Klitschko said in the latest update.
Four people remain in the city’s hospitals, he added.
Five dead, 40 injured in a Dutch tour bus crash in Switzerland
In other news, five people died, and 40 were injured after a Dutch tour bus crashed into a roadside barrier and overturned in eastern Switzerland.
Three people remain in serious condition at hospital.
According to the Dutch Federation of Travel Agencies, ANVR, the coach left the Netherlands on Monday and was on a day trip to Switzerland from Austria when the crash happened.
Four people injured in new Russian attacks on Kyiv petrol stations
Four people were injured in the renewed petrol station attacks this morning, according to local authorities in Kyiv.
Two more petrol stations in Kyiv reportedly hit by Russian strikes
After a petrol station was hit in Kyiv yesterday, two more were reportedly targeted this morning in the Oblonskyi and Dniprovskyi districts of the capital.
That’s according to Kyiv mayor, Wladimir Klitschko.
Emergency services are attending.
Morning opening: Ukraine’s Pavlohrad marks a day of mourning after Russian attack kills five
Jakub Krupa
The Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad marks a day of mourning today after a Russian attack killed five people yesterday, with two more killed and 79 injured in total in the wider Dnipropetrovsk region.
“This is another crime by Russia against peaceful people. Those who lived, worked, and raised children. Russian attacks bring death and destruction to our cities and villages,” Dnipropetrovsk governor Oleksandr Hanzha said.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said “Russia is systematically attacking places where it knows people will be spending their time going about their daily lives, seeking to maximise casualties, spread fear, and put pressure on Ukrainian society.”
“This is a tactic of coercion. Russia believes that relentless attacks on civilians can exhaust Ukrainians and force Ukraine into concessions,” he said.
Reuters noted that a separate attack on the petrol station in Kyiv and on an agribusiness facility in the southeastern city of Dnipro added to Russia’s intensified air campaign in recent weeks.
Ukrainian prime minister Sergii Koretskyi said Russian attacks on businesses and civilian infrastructure were “rapidly growing” and urged the government to “react and act in advance”.
I will keep an eye on updates from Ukraine and across Europe.
It’s Friday, 11 September 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
