Liberal leader admits Sweden Democrats deal was not her first choice

Liberal Party leader Simona Mohamsson has acknowledged that her party’s new cooperation agreement with the Sweden Democrats (SD) was “not my first choice, nor my second,” according to a leaked recording from an internal party meeting obtained by public broadcaster SVT Nyheter.

Speaking at a closed meeting with the party’s Stockholm branch on Thursday, Mohamsson defended the controversial shift in policy—welcoming SD into government in exchange for policy influence—as a necessary move to secure the Liberals’ survival in parliament.

“This was not my first choice, nor my second. But it is the choice I stand by today,” she said in the recording. Mohamsson argued that the party must clearly align itself either with the political left or right to surpass the parliamentary threshold in the next election, admitting that voters had not accepted the Liberals’ previous stance of cooperating with SD while excluding them from government.

Addressing criticism from party members, she acknowledged the challenges of leading the Liberals through the crisis, stating: “It’s not easy to lead and to take on the task of saving the Liberal Party in a year when others say no.” She also conceded that the process had been poorly handled, confined to a narrow circle within the party.

Mohamsson expressed understanding for members opposed to SD, referencing the far-right party’s controversial figures. “I have eyes just like you—I know that the Sweden Democrats have many representatives who do not behave well and many members who do not see me as Swedish,” she said. She emphasized, however, that the agreement does not mean the Liberals will become “SD’s best friends,” a scenario she claimed was never under consideration.