![Swedish Prime Minister and Social Democratic Party leader Stefan Lofven answers questions after a press conference at the Swedish Parliament, Stockholm, Sweden, Dec. 27, 2014 (AP photo by Henrik Montgomery).](https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/l_sweden_lofven_01062015.png?w=519&h=259&crop=1)
Sweden was plunged into political crisis last month when its prime minister, Stefan Lofven, initially called for new elections to be held in March after the populist Sweden Democrats joined with the center-right opposition coalition to vote down the ruling Social Democrat and Green Party government budget. The crisis came just two months after a general election that brought the Social Democrats back to power. With the Social Democrat-Green coalition ruling as a minority, the Sweden Democrats found themselves in the powerful position of being the deciding vote in parliament. That allowed them to act on their hardline anti-immigration platform, […]